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THE 


MEMOIRS 


OF 


dEN.  Joseph  Gardner  Swift,  LL,D„U,S,  A, 


FIRST   GRADUATE   OF  THE 


United  States  Military  Academy,  West  Point, 


Chief  Engineer  U.  S.  A.  from   1812    ro  18 18. 


1800 1865. 


To  which  is  added  a  Genealogy  of  tlie  Family  of 
THOMAS    SWIFT    OF    DORCHESTER,    MASS.,   1634, 
By  HARRISON  ELLERY, 

Member  of  the  New  England  Historic  Genealogical  Society. 


PRIVATELY  PRINTED. 
1890. 


COI'VKIGHT,    1890, 

Bv  Hahkison  Eli.brv, 


INTRODUCTORY. 


The  genealogy  of  the  descendants  of  Thomas  Swift  of  Dorchester, 
Massachusetts,  which  is  added  to  these  Memoirs,  was  written  a  few  years 
ago,  during  leisure  moments,  with  the  intention  of  confining  it  to  the 
first  four  generations  of  the  family,  and  contributing  the  same  to  the 
pages  of  the  New  England  Historical  and  Genealogical  Register.  It  was 
to  have  been  one  of  a  series  of  genealogies  of  those  families  with  which 
I  am  connected  by  marriage,  and  which  I  hoped  from  time  to  time  to 
complete.  But  the  temptation  to  all  who  engage  in  genealogical  work 
to  expand  has  been  yielded  to,  and  what  was  intended  to  be  simply  the 
history  of  the  early  generations  of  the  family  has  become  what  this  book 
contains. 

While  corresponding  with  various  members  of  the  family  on  the  subject 
of  its  history,  I  found  in  possession  of  the  sons  of  the  late  General  Swift, 
of  the  United  States  Army,  his  journal.  At  my  solicitation  they  permitted 
me  to  examine  it.  It  proved  a  very  interesting  document,  and  it  seemed 
to  me  that  it  would  be  a  valuable  contribution  to  history  if  printed.  I 
suggested  to  them  that  it  be  embodied  in  one  book  with  the  genealogy, 
provided  I  could  obtain  enough  subscribers  to  warrant  it.  They  expressed 
their  willingness,,  and  also  from  their  family  pictures  contributed  the 
illustrations  which  adorn  the  book. 

General  Swift  was  much  interested  in  his  family  history,  having  made 
considerable  eftort  to  collect  facts  concerning  his  ancestry;  and  it  seems 


G  INTRODUCTORY. 

particularly  appropriate  that  what  is  herein  printed  on  the  subject  should 
appear  in  connection  with  his  Memoirs. 

While  the  descendants  of  Thomas  Swift  who  bear  the  name  have  been 
few,  those  of  his  contemporary,  William  Swift  of  Sandwich,  Mass.,  with 
whom  no  relationship  has  as  yet  been  established,  have  been  very 
numerous.  They  may  be  found  in  all  parts  of  the  United  States.  But 
not  all  who  bear  the  name  of  Swift  in  this  country  are  descended  from 
these  two  primitive  settlers,  for  among  the  immigrants  to  this  country 
during  the  past  half-century  will  be  found  those  who  bear  this  respectable 
patronymic. 

It  is  but  justice  to  myself  to  say,  that  this  genealogy  was  printed  before 
the  History  of  Milton,  and  that  the  use  of  my  advance  sheets  was  made 
by  my  permission,  in  writing  the  article  on  the  Swift  family  which 
appears  In  that  work. 

HARRISON  ELLERY. 


ILLUSTRATIONS. 


Gen.  Joseph  Gardner  Swift, Frontispiece 

Coat-of-Arms  and  Family  Chair,          .  (Genealogy)    .  .    opp.  page  i 

Dr.  Foster  Swift (Genealogy)    .  opp.  page  23 

Mrs.  Dr.  Foster  Swift,    .         .         .        (Genealogy)         .  opp.  page  26 

House  of  Capt.  John  Swift,     .         .        (Genealogy)         .  .      page  29 


Gen'l  Joseph  Gardner  Swift,  LL.  D. 


MEMOIRS. 


FROM  THE  DIARIES   OF  J.    G.    SWIFT. 


West  Point.  July,  1807. 

From  very  early  life  I  have  been  in  the  habit  of  making  memoranda  of 
events,  and  in  reference  to  persons  who  have  in  any  wise  interested  me. 
This  habit  was  induced  by  the  example  of  my  father,  who  leit  me  often  in 
care  of  his  office,  and  with  permission  to  peruse  his  diary.  My  earliest 
essays  in  this  imitation  were  puerile,  but  they  were  kindly  received  by  my 
mother,  who  taught  me  early  to  read,  and  who,  pleased  with  my  essays, 
encouraged  my  progress.  As  may  be  the  case  with  most  young  people,  a 
diary  of  their  time,  however  impressive  to  them  may  have  been  the  event 
when  recorded,  could  afford  but  little  to  amuse,  and  less  to  interest,  grown- 
up folks.  I  therefore  set  me  down  at  my  alma  7nater  to  review  the  records 
of  my  boyhood.  A  first  impression  is  to  obliterate  all  that  precedes  my 
entrance  into  the  army  —  while  indeed  there  can  be  but  a  morsel  to  glean 
in  the  seven  years  of  cadet  and  subalternship  in  times  of  peace.  1  find 
myself  at  this  time  commandant  of  a  post  that  had  occupied  some  of  the 
pages  of  our  revolutionary  history, —  a  housekeeper  also  at  the  head  of  a 
family  of  a  wife  and  one  son  —  so  to  amuse  my  leisure,  and  may  be  gratify 
my  son,  and  may  be  to  gratify  a  common  feeling  that  "  Every  man's  world 
is  important  to  himself,"  I  conclude  to  overhaul  my  files  of  diaries  and  to 
collate  what  might  seem  useful  to  show  the  influences  that  give  a  cast  to 
a  young  man's  pursuits. 

Of  the  origin  of  my  family :  They  were  husbandmen  frora  England,  who 
migrated  to  Massachusetts  Bay  soon  after  the  first  colony  landed  at  Plymouth. 


lO  THE  MEMOIRS   OF 

Tradition  lands  them  at  Squantum,  in  Boston  Bay.  They  were  the  family 
of  Thomas  Swift  (son  of  Robert)  from  Rotherham  in  Yorkshire,  which 
Thomas  became  a  "freeman"  6th  May,  Anno  1635  ;  the  year  his  first  son, 
Thomas,  was  born.  He  purchased  fourteen  hundred  acres  of  land  in  Milton, 
then  Dorchester,  the  eastern  part  of  which  tract  is  elevated  and  overlooks  the 
whole  of  Boston  Harbor,  and  is  situate  eio-ht  miles  from  Faneuil  Hall,  that 
cradle  of  American  independence.  This  tract  became  subdivided  among- 
the  descendants  of  the  said  Thomas.  His  oldest  son,  Thomas,  my  ancestor, 
was  also  the  ancestor  of  the  Swifts  of  Sandwich,  and  of  Colonel  Hermon 
Swift  of  the  Revolutionary  Army,  of  Chief  Justice  Zepheniah  Swift,  both  of 
Connecticut,  and  also  of  the  Swifts,  Senator  Swift  of  Vermont  and  Generals 
John  and  Philetus,  of  New  York  and  other  States  of  the  Union.*  He,  the 
second  Thomas,  was  also  the  father  of  Rev.  John  Swift  of  Framingham,  and 
of  Colonel  Samuel  Swift,  a  lawyer  of  Milton,  whose  oldest  son,  Samuel,  was 
my  grandfather,  Samuel  Swift,  a  graduate  of  Cambridge  College,  1735,  and 
who  died  in  Boston  1775.  Colonel  Samuel  Swift  of  Milton  was  also  a  judge 
of  the  court,  and  a  member  of  the  Ancient  and  Honorable  Artillery  of  Boston, 
of  which  company  also  his  son,  my  grandfather,  Samuel,  was  a  member. 
The  oldest  son  of  this  Samuel  was  my  father,  Foster  Swift,  who  studied 
medicine  in  Boston  with  Dr.  Joseph  Gardner;  in  February,  1783,  married 
my  mother,  Deborah  Delano,  the  daughter  of  Captain  Thomas  Delano,  at 
Nantucket,  where  1  was  born  the  last  day  of  the  year  1783,  during  the 
absence  of  my  father  in  Virginia.  He  had  gone  thither  with  letters  to 
General  Washington  from  General  Lincoln,  for  the  purpose  of  settling  as  a 
physician  in  the  vicinity  of  his  only  brother,  Jonathan  Swift,  a  merchant  of 
Alexandria.  My  maternal  grandfather  was  a  direct  descendant  from  Philip 
de  la  Noye,  a  Hugueaot  or  Protestant  emigrant  from  Leyden  to  Plymouth. 
The  variation  in  spelling  the  name  is  of  record  in  the  Plymouth  annals, 
omitting  the  two  final  letters. 

As   was   usual   at  Nantucket  dwellings,  my  grandfather  had  constructed 
upon  his  house-top  a  "  walk,"  with  a  staff  and  vane  thereon,  to  indicate  the 

*  Note. — General   Swift   is   certainly  in   error  here.      Gene.ilogical   research    does   not    connect,   on    this 
side  of  the  Atlantic,  the  Swifts  of  Sandwich,  who  descend  from  William,  with  the  Dorchester  family.  —  //.  E. 


GENERAL  JOSEPH  GARDNER  SWIFT.  1 1 

course  of  the  wind,  and  also  a  mariner's  compass  and  spy  glass  to  observe 
the   vessels  going  and  coming  upon   whaling  voyages.       In   this  lucrative 
business    Captain    Delano   had  an   interest.       He   had   been   an   early   and 
successful  voyager  to  the  Brazil  Banks,  and  also  a  shipmaster  in  the  London 
trade,  which   latter  had  enabled  him  to  educate  his  sons  in  England.      His 
daughter   Deborah   wrote   a  fair  hand,  and  kept  her  father's  accounts  and 
correspondence.      Her  father  was  of  a  gentle  nature  and  kind  to  children. 
He  often  gratified  me  with  views  from  the  "walk,"  and  gave  me  ideas  of  the 
use  of  a  spy  glass  and  compass.     He  was  also  a  sportsman,  and  occasionally 
took  me  with  him  to  his  farm  at  "Anaise"  [Quaise?]  and  "Siasconset,"  near 
the  sea  side,  from  whence  he  brought  returns  in  the  "calash"  of  shoal  duck 
and  sea  bass.     He  was  also  one  of  the  proprietors  of  the  sheep  folds,  and  with 
him  I  have  been  to  the  Nantucket  sheep  washings  and  shearings,  a  period 
of  much  rejoicing  in  cakes  and  ale  on  that  island  of  "  primitive  people."     I 
was  too  young  while  residing  with  my  grandparents  to   1792,  to  note  the 
peculiarities  of  the  people,  but  my  mother  used  to  say  that  the  simple  and 
free  visitings  among  Nantucket  families  was    very  unlike    any    association 
of  other  places  of  her  residence.     It  was  a  confiding  intimacy  and  unre- 
strained hospitality.      Their  tables  were  abundant  in  simple  fare.      Bread 
formed  by  baking  green  corn  and  from  flour  made  of  parched  corn,  and 
soup  from  the  dried  green  corn,  formed  characteristic  dishes  at  their  unpre- 
tending tea  drinkings,  the  prominent  hour  for  sociability  at  Nantucket.     My 
mother  said    that    dinner   gatherings    were    unusual,  although    it   was  not 
deemed  good  Nantucket  fellowship  to  evade  or  decline  to  participate  in  a 
meal  that  might  be  suitable  to  the  time  of  day  that  found  a  neighbor  at 
their  houses.     Those  days  of  simplicity  have  given  place  to  fashion^and  less 
sincerity — and  we  may  say,  less  happiness. 

My  father  returning  in  bad  health  from  Virginia,  had  determined  to  remove 
his  family  to  Apponagansett,  near  New  Bedford,  and  he  there  practiced 
medicine.  I  have  a  recollection  hereabouts  in  time,  1789,  of  being  tied  to 
the  pump  on  board  a  packet,  to  prevent  my  falling  overboard.  The  occasion 
was  one  of  a  visit  to  my  father's  relations  in  Boston.  It  was  the  period  of 
Washington's  tour  to   New  England,  when,  with  many  other  children   of 


12  THE  MEMOIRS   OF 

larger  growth,  I  was  on  Boston  Common  "  beholding  the  hero."  I  have 
retained  in  memory  the  real  or  ideal  features  of  Washington,  as  then  seen, 
to  which  my  mind  refers  whenever  I  see  his  portrait. 

Near  my  father's  residence  there  were  mills  on  the  Apponagansett  River, 
and  William  Russel,  the  miller,  was  a  "  friend  of  the  boys."  He  once  sprang 
into  the  river  and  rescued  me.  I  had  fallen  in  from  the  bridge  and  cut  my 
head  against  a  stone  in  the  bed  of  the  stream,  the  scar  from  which  is  visible 
at  this  time,  1807.  In  1792  my  father  removed  his  family  to  Taunton,  a 
beautiful  village  on  a  river  of  that  name,  situate  half  way  between  Boston 
and  Newport,  and  Providence,  R.  I.,  and  New  Bedford.  Upon  the  spot 
where  my  father  built  his  house  was  the  tomb  of  Elizabeth  Pool,  which,  with 
its  monumental  stone,  was  removed  to  the  public  cemetery.  This  woman 
was  a  bold  adventuress  from  Taunton  in  England.  She  had  purchased  the 
township  of  Taunton  from  the  Indians,  and  the  town  was  incorporated  by 
the  General  Court  in  1630. 

I  was  placed  at  Mr.  Abner  Alden's  school.  He  was  a  good  teacher  and 
the  author  of  some  useful  books.  My  last  teacher  had  been  "  Master  Hart," 
for  the  benefit  of  whose  school  I  had  been  placed  near  him  at  a  friend  of 
my  father's,  John  Smith,  Esq.,  at  the  head  of  the  Pasquemonset  River. 
While  my  father  was  on  a  visit  to  me  there  occurred  a  scene  which  remains 
vivid  in  my  memory.  A  negro  had  run  away  from  Rhode  Island,  1791.  A 
rumor  had  reached  "the  head  of  the  river"  that  William  Anthony  had 
apprehended  the  negro  and  would  pass  "the  bridge"  that  night.  The 
people  were  anxious  to  rescue  the  negro,  and  the  boys  of  our  school  were 
employed  In  collecting  stones  at  the  bridge  to  intercept  Anthony.  The 
crowd  of  men,  women  and  boys  remained  up  until  late  in  the  night,  when  a 
horse's  step  was  heard  approaching  rapidly.  In  spite  of  the  missiles, 
Anthony  plunged  his  horse  into  the  crowd,  and  riding  with  ability  he  escaped, 
leaving  the  negro  at  the  bridge.  This  instance  is  a  strong  Indication  of  the 
feeling  upon  slavery.     These  people  were  worthy  Quakers. 

In  the  fall  of  this  year,  1792,  the  small  pox  being  rife  in  Boston,  my 
father  sent  me  thither  to  the  care  of  his  sister  Levering,  and  I  passed  lightly 
through  that  disease  by  the  aid  of  my  father's  friend,  Dr.  L.  Hayward.     In 


GENERAL  JOSEPH  GARDNER  SWIFT.  13 

Boston  I  enjoyed  the  friendly  attention  of  John  Gardner,  Esq.,  the  author 
of  "  Helvetius "  and  other  political  essays  in  favor  of  Jay's  treaty  with 
England.  He  was  the  nephew  and  heir  of  Dr.  Joseph  Gardner  of  Boston, 
with  whom  my  father  studied  medicine,  and  who  had  promised  my  father  a 
legacy  to  me,  his  namesake.  The  legacy  was  never  received,  but  Mr.  John 
Gardner  was  my  friend,  and  much  contributed  to  my  enjoyments  at  the 
public  exhibitions  in  Boston. 

In  September  of  the  following  year,  1793,  Miss  Sally  Cady,  a  very  well 
educated  and  handsome  young  lady  from  Plainfield  in  Connecticut,  opened 
a  school  on  Taunton  Green,  a  beautiful  area  of  sward  around  which  the 
village  was  situate.  At  this  school,  among  other  branches  of  instruction 
was  taught  drawing  and  declamation.  I  was  a  pupil,  and  proprietor  of  a 
nice  writing  desk  and  chair,  a  present  from  my  father ;  it  was  quite  an 
attractive  novelty  in  the  school,  and  I  had  the  pleasure  of  having  the  pretty 
girls  of  the  school  exchanging  their  usual  bench  for  a  seat  at  my  desk; 
which  desk  soon  set  the  fashion  that  was  followed  by  both  girls  and  boys. 
Miss  Cady  introduced  recitations  from  Noah  Webster's  "Third  Part,"  and 
also  dialogues  between  the  girls  and  boys,  taken  from  the  works  of  Hannah 
More  and  other  authors. 

In  the  year  1794  I  had  become  useful  to  my  father  by  transcribing 
justice's  papers.  He  was  of  the  quorum,  and  I  was  also  useful  in  his  drug 
and  medicine  store,  pending  his  professional  rides  in  the  adjacent  country. 
Sometimes  I  accompanied  my  father  in  his  rides  on  horseback.  It  was  in 
this  year  that  I  commenced  my  boyish  journal  in  imitation  of  my  father's 
habit,  and  whose  diary  I  was  permitted  to  read  and  make  extracts  from,  at 
his  writing  table.  Among  my  father's  books  a  Dictionary  of  Arts  attracted 
my  attention  ;  a  recipe  therein  to  make  fireworks  induced  me  to  experiment 
with  gun  powder.  It  took  fire  from  heedlessness  and  burned  me  badly, 
from  the  effects  of  which  I  was  unable  to  use  my  eyes  for  several  weeks. 
A  near  neighbor,  Mr.  Cobb,  hearing  the  concussion,  ran  to  my  father's  office, 
and  covered  my  blistered  face  with  ink.  In  this  plight  I  was  taken  to  my 
mother,  greatly  to  her  dismay  and  alarm,  in  my  father's  absence  ;  a  scene  of 
distress  still  vivid  in  my  memory. 


14  THE  MEMOIRS    OF 

When  my  father's  family  removed  from  Dartmouth  to  Taunton,  1792,  the 
Revolution  of  France  was  an  absorbing  theme  of  discourse,  and  a  song 
among  the  boys.  The  village  barber  shop,  Mr.  Sider's,  was  ornamented 
with  prints  of  the  battle  scene  and  overthrow  of  the  Bastile,  and  with 
portraits  of  warriors  and  scenes  of  tumult  in  Paris.  My  father's  diary  had 
several  aspirations  against  the  influence  that  this  revolution  was  exciting 
upon  the  minds  of  our  countrymen,  and  especially  on  those  who  had  a  share 
in  Shay's  Rebellion,  with  the  details  of  which  insurrection  he  was  familiar. 
He  described  to  me  the  skirmish  at  Springfield  in  which  General  Shepard 
had  a  narrow  escape  from  death  by  a  shot  from  one  of  David  Shay's 
followers.  My  father  was  also  familiar  with  the  scenes  of  our  war  of  the 
Revolution,  in  which  his  father's  family  had  suffered,  and  to  which  his  father 
had  fallen  a  victim,  and  died  under  the  confinement  inflicted  upon  him,  and 
other  prominent  citizens  of  Boston.  Among  our  family  friends  in  Taunton 
was  General  David  Cobb,  who  had  been  an  aid-dc-camp  of  Washington. 
I  have  heard  him  describe  scenes  of  the  war  and  of  suffering  at  Valley 
Forge,  but  particularly  of  his  agency  in  quelling  the  rebellion  of  Shay's, 
and  of  his  having  dispersed  a  band  that  had  in  1 786  assembled  on  Taunton 
Green  to  prevent  the  session  of  the  courts  of  law  in  Bristol  County.  The 
band  was  commanded  by  one  of  Shay's  lieutenants,  one  Valentine,  of 
Freetown.  General  Cobb  harangued  the  rebels,  and  being  a  judge  also  of 
the  court  of  pleas,  he  told  the  rebels  that  he  would  that  day  sit  a  judge  or 
die  a  general,  and  then  ordered  a  field  piece  to  be  unlimbered  and  pointed 
at  the  rebels  with  the  match  lighted.  They  became  panic-struck,  and  fled 
in  dismay  at  the  report  of  the  piece  that  sent  a  ball  over  their  heads.  This 
Valentine  was  a  noisy  babbler  to  the  mechanics  and  boys  who  assembled  in 
pleasant  evenings  upon  Taunton  Green,  to  whom  myself  and  others  used  to 
listen.  His  theme  was  the  French  Revolution,  urging  that  our  country 
should  return  the  favor  of  the  aid  that  France  had  given  us  in  our  late  war, 
by  joining  our  force  to  theirs  to  dethrone  tyrants.  This  eloquence  was 
popular  with  the  boys  until  the  rumor  reached  them  of  Genet's  insulting 
Washington.  This  touched  the  patriotic  feeling,  and  affection  for  the  hero. 
The  boys  even  began  to  ciuestion  the  propriety  of  the  civic  feasts  given  in 


GENERAL  JOSEPH  GARDNER  SWIFT.  1 5 

1 793  in  honor  of  French  Hberty.  These  feastings  had  become  common  in 
the  country.  When  I  was  nearly  ten  years  of  age  I  was  placed  on  the 
festive  board  to  sing  the  translated  French  songs  then  common  among  the 
boys.  I  had  a  fair  voice  and  my  love  for  music  was  cultivated  by  a  friend 
of  my  mother's,  Mrs.  Olive  Leonard,  who  sang  sweetly  and  played  also  on 
the  guitar.  Perhaps  I  owed  some  of  my  taste  to  a  strolling  Portuguese, 
Emanuel  Cuidozo,  who  habitually  visited  our  village  and  sung  the  plaintive 
airs  of  his  native  land,  accom.panying  himself  with  the  lute  strung  to  his 
shoulder.  This  was  a  frequent  entertainment  in  summer  evenings  on  the 
Green,  for  which  the  boys  contributed  many  "  a  copper."  Emanuel  had  the 
tact  to  apply  his  Portuguese  airs  to  American  ballads,  describing  the  battles 
of  St.  Clair  with  the  Indians  in  1791.  A  young  officer.  Lieutenant  Cobb, 
had  been  killed  in  one  of  these  battles.  He  was  a  Taunton  boy  and  son  of 
the  general ;  the  general  was  also  our  member  in  Congress  at  Philadelphia. 
He  sent  my  father  "  Poulson's  Daily  Advertiser"  and  documents  of 
Congress.  These  I  used  to  read  to  my  mother,  by  which  means  I  had 
some  vague  ideas  of  the  Constitution,  and  plied  my  mother  with  many  a 
question  about  Congress.  I  remember  an  expression  of  force  in  my  father's 
diary  for  1791,  that  "  Rhode  Island  had  escaped  damnation  by  adopting  the 
Constitution."  In  his  diary  for  1794  he  noted  the  resignation  of  Senator 
Jefferson  as  a  treason  to  Washington's  administration,  after  having  served 
therein  as  Secretary  of  State.  My  father's  diary  also  commented  on  the 
prominent  conduct  of ♦  Albert  Gallatin  in  the  Pennsylvania  Rebellion,  the 
whiskey  boys'  treason.  He  called  the  movement  a  leading  act  to  aid  in 
"  overthrowing  the  system  and  policy  of  Washington  to  advance  his 
country's  glory  and   peace,"   etc. 

In  the  following  year,  1795,  his  diary  notices  the  treachery  of  Secretary 
Randolph  as  an  event  of  sad  import  to  the  character  of  American  statesmen 
—  the  chief  minister  in  the  Cabinet  betraying  his  trust.  This  notice  was 
soon  succeeded  by  remarks  on  the  vileness  of  the  assault  on  the  integrity  of 
Washington,  made  by  a  "Calm  Observer"  in  the  "  Philadelphia  Aurora." 
Early  in  the  year  1796  his  diary  commends  Jay's  treaty  with  England,  and 
scouts  the  idea  of  anti-Federalists  who  oppose  the  treaty  on  an  assumption 


1 6  THE  MEMOIRS   OF 

that  it  was  virtually  a  breach  of  our  alliance  with  France.  My  father 
denounced  the  assumption  a  Jacobinic  emanation,  and  deemed  the  treaty 
the  best  that  could  be  obtained  while  the  United  States  had  no  navy  to 
sustain  its  rights  on  the  ocean.  He  rejoiced,  therefore,  that  the  Senate 
had  adopted  the  treaty. 

About  these  days  the  French  cruisers  began  to  capture  our  merchant 
ships.  This,  and  the  impressment  of  our  seamen  by  the  British  cruisers, 
placed  the  country  in  a  double  dilemma — our  treasury  small,  our  means  of 
defence  in  no  condition  to  go  to  war  with  either  power. 

These  items  in  my  father's  diary,  and  my  newspaper  readings  to  my 
mother,  had  furnished  abundant  themes  for  my  comments  and  patriotic 
effusions  that  occupy  several  pages  in  my  diary.  They  may  as  well  be 
omitted  here ;  they  would  not  aid  my  son's  reflections  as  well  as  the  few 
extracts  from  his  grandfather's  journal. 

1796.  Very  early  in  the  history  of  Massachusetts,  provision  was  made  by 
law  for  schools,  one  to  every  fifty  families.  Nay,  it  was  made  a  penal  offence 
to  omit  their  establishment.  The  same  State  at  a  later  period  endowed 
many  academies  with  lands  in  Maine.  Among  the  number  was  one  incor- 
porated, 1792,  in  Taunton.  The  construction  of  this  academy  was  begun  in 
1 795  and  completed  in  1 796,  in  July  of  which  year  the  building  was  dedicated 
to  the  care  of  Rev.  Simeon  Dogget,  an  highly  educated  graduate  of  Rhode 
Island  College,  and  of  Miss  Sally  Cady,  whom  I  have  previously  mentioned. 
In  this  institution  I  commenced  Latin,  Greek  and  Geometry,  with  the  then 
purpose  of  entering  Harvard  University.  Among  the  scholars  of  the 
academy  of  whom  1  retain  friendly  and  respectful  remembrance  were  John 
Mason  Williams,  since  a  judge  on  the  Massachusetts  bench  ;  Francis  Baylis, 
a  member  of  Congress  and  Charge  to  Buenos  Ayres  ;  Nicholas  Tillinghast ; 
Edward  Mitchell  of  South  Carolina,  a  distinguished  physician  ;  Thomas 
Paine,  an  officer  in  the  U.  S.  Navy ;  Charles  B.  King,  an  artist  of  City 
Washington;  Henry  and  Charles  Cobb;  Jona.  Ingalls;  John  Presbury ; 
Charles  Richmond,  a  manufacturer  of  great  enterprise  and  energy;  Appolos 
Cushman  ;  Philo  H.  Washburn,  a  distinguished  lawyer  in  Maine,  etc.  These 
halcyon  days  of   '96-'97-'98  were  of   the  most  delightful  character.      On 


GENERAL  JOSEPH   GARDNER  SWIFT.  I  7 

one  occasion  John  Presbury  was  in  default  in  composition.  I  sold  him 
mine  for  cakes,  and  wrote  another  for  myself;  he  won  the  prize  and  of 
course  I  was  obliged  to  be  mum.  On  another  day  my  map  was  not  ready, 
and  Presbury  put  in  his  own  for  me.  Such  intercourse  it  is  that  makes  the 
bonds  of  school-days  strong. 

In  the  year  1797  I  lost  a  schoolmate  and  friend,  Joseph  Leonard,  of  the 
family  that  had  been  iron  masters  from  the  first  days  of  the  colony.  His 
grave  was  for  some  time  a  rendezvous  for  several  ot  his  mates.  He 
possessed  fine  generous  qualities  and  was  an  excellent  scholar. 

In  the  year  1798  my  cousin,  William  Roberdeau  Swift,  from  Alexandria 
in  Virginia,  became  a  member  of  my  father's  family.  He  introduced  the 
game  of  fine,  at  our  school  recesses,  and  he  had  a  fine  graphic  talent. 

It  was  in  the  same  year  that  political  parties  became  high  in  their 
disputes,  and  the  respective  sides  taken  by  the  parents  were  visible  among 
their  sons,  and  the  boys  had  their  discussion  on  the  merits  of  Mr.  Adams, 
Mr.  Jefferson  and  Governor  Pinkney,  and  English  or  French  became  the 
appelatives  of  men  and  boys.  Among  the  laws  of  Congress  was  a  "Stamp 
Act"  which  disturbed  the  people,  more  from  the  fact  that  the  name  recalled 
to  mind  one  of  the  causes  of  the  war  of  1776  than  from  any  inherent  defect 
in  the  principle  upon  which  the  tax  was  based.  My  father  was  an  inspector 
of  the  revenue  and  collector  of  the  tax  under  this  law.  Occasionally  it 
became  my  duty,  in  my  father  absence,  to  deliver  these  "stamps"  for  notes, 
bonds,  &c.,  from  which  the  boys  called  me  an  aristocrat. 

At  this  time  there  resided  in  Taunton  an  Eaton  scholar,  Mr.  Charles 
Leonard,  the  son  of  the  Chief  Justice  of  the  island  of  Bermuda,  and  of  the 
same  family  that  I  have  before  mentioned  as  iron  masters  in  Raynham  and 
Taunton.  This  gentleman  took  the  fancy  to  give  me  lessons  in  drawing, 
and  also  upon  the  German  flute,  and  he  made  me  the  present  of  a  box 
of  Reeves'  water  colors.  To  these  he  was  prompted  by  observing  me  at 
work  upon  a  camera  obscura,  to  finish  which  he  had  furnished  a  suitable 
lens,  and  by  which  some  sketches  of  Taunton  Green  and  River  were  made. 
Soon  after  this  my  mother's  brother,  Captain  Henry  Delano,  came  from 
England  and  made  us  a  visit.      He  had  a  fine  voice,  and  taught  me  several 


1 8  THE  MEMOIRS   OF 

of  Dibden's  sea  songs.  He  brought  with  him  his  "freedom  suit  of  clothes," 
a  common  perquisite  in  England,  being  made  of  fine  scarlet  cloth.  He 
gave  this  suit  to  me,  from  which  myself,  and  years  after,  my  brother 
William  and  my  own  sons  wore  several  garments.  My  uncle  Henry  was 
of  a  cheerful  temper,  a  sailor  and  ship-master  who  had  seen  many 
vicissitudes.  In  a  cruise  to  the  Levant  he  had  been  captured  by  Algerines, 
and  retained  in  slavery  several  years,  and  finally  ransomed  by  his  adopted 
country,  England,  where  he  had  been  educated  and  apprenticed  to  a 
London  merchant.  He  married  a  lady  of  the  family  of  Osborne,  and  resided 
near  the  "Bell  in  Edmondton."  In  the  ensuing  winter  of  1798,  I  had  an 
escape  from  drowning.  While  skating  upon  the  river  at  the  margin  of  my 
father's  garden,  in  company  with  my  cousin,  Wm.  R.  Swift,  and  in  presence 
of  my  parents  and  uncle  Henry,  I  broke  through  the  ice  and  disappeared, 
while  my  cousin  had  turned  to  another  direction.  Providentially  I  rose 
to  the  surface  through  the  broken  ice,  and  was  drawn  to  the  shore  by  a  pole 
extended  to  me  by  Mr.  Sherman,  a  Quaker,  who,  with  several  others  of  his 
sect,  were  near  the  river  side  "on  the  prison  limits."  They  were  confined 
by  process  of  law  for  conscience  sake — the  Quakers  refusing  to  perform 
militia   duty. 

There  was  at  this  time  residing  in  Taunton  Mr.  Benjamin  Dearborn,  a 
very  ingenious  machinist  and  much  respected  citizen.  He  had  established 
in  that  town  a  factory  of  steel-yard  balances.  His  factory  was  a  very 
interesting  place  to  me,  and  he  not  only  indulged  my  visits  but  he  also 
taught  me  the  use  of  a  theodolite,  invented  by  himself,  and  aided  me  in  the 
construction  of  a  wooden  circumferentor,  with  which  I  made  a  survey  of 
Taunton  Green  —  the  plot  and  diagram  of  which  is  now  among  my  files. 

In  these  days  we  became  familiar  with  the  name  of  Talleyrand  and  the 
French  Directory,  and  of  his  offering  our  ambassadors  money  to  form  a 
treaty.  These,  and  the  accounts  of  French  cruisers  capturing  our  merchant 
ships,  tended  to  encourage  the  building  ships  of  war,  the  "  Constitution,"  etc. 
Several  of  our  youths  were  ripe  for  becoming  midshipmen,  and  General 
Cobb  had  many  applications  to  procure  warrants  for  them.  Some  of  these 
applicants  succeeded.     My  mother's  views  were  of  a  peaceful  nature.     Her 


GENERAL  JOSEPH  GARDNER  SWIFT.  19 

family  were  of  the  sect  of  Quakers,  or  Friends,  and  lier  preference  was 
that  I  should  become  a  physician  ;  my  own  inclinations  were  to  become  a 
traveler.  Readings  to  my  mother  had  furnished  excitement  to  this  pur- 
pose. The  appointment  of  General  Washington  to  the  command-in-chief 
of  the  army  had  given  a  serious  aspect  to  the  times,  and  consequently  there 
was  an  increasing  amount  of  subjects  for  discussion  among  men,  and  by 
similar  consequence  the  interest  spread  among  the  boys.  I  listened  to  the 
conversation  between  General  Cobb  and  my  father  on  the  prospects  of 
anti-Federalism  —  a  party  that  opposed  a  war.  The  building  of  two  frigates 
was  deemed  an  untimely  threat  to  France,  and  the  Federalists  were 
accused  of  a  purpose  to  aid  England  in  arresting  the  march  of  liberty 
among  our  allies.  The  boys  generally  were  disposed  to  favor  both  army 
and  navy,  and  we  began  to  form  companies  in  the  "  Manual  Exercise,"  etc. 

By  the  summer  of  1799  I  was  prepared  to  enter  Cambridge  College.  It 
was  at  this  period  that  there  marched  into  town,  and  encamped  on  a 
beautiful  site  near  the  margin  of  Taunton  River,  the  14th  United  States 
regiment  of  infantry,  commanded  by  Colonel  Nathan  Rice,  composed  of  two 
incomplete  battalions  of  the  Provisional  Army.  My  father  became  the  tem- 
porary surgeon  of  this  regiment,  whereby,  as  his  messenger,  1  became  a 
familiar  in  the  tents  of  the  officers.  In  a  few  weeks  thereafter  Captain 
Amos  Stoddard  marched  a  company  of  United  States  Artillerists  and 
Engineers  into  camp,  on  its  route  to  garrison  Rhode  Island  Harbor.  This 
officer  was  an  intimate  friend  of  my  father's,  and  had  been  a  student  of  law 
in  our  neighbor.  Judge  Padelford's  office,  on  Taunton  Green.  It  was  very 
pleasant  to  me  to  find  that  this  officer  recognized  me  as  an  acquaintance. 
Lieutenants  Williams  and  Steel  were  his  subalterns.  In  their  visits  to  my 
father's  family  they  indulged  me  with  accounts  of  the  artillery  service,  and 
asked  me  if  I  would  like  to  be  a  cadet  in  their  corps.  Here  was  a  charm 
for  a  boy.  Under  its  influence  I  urged  my  parents  to  request  the  aid  of 
General  Cobb  to  procure  a  cadet's  warrant.  Mr.  John  Gardner  ot  Boston, 
whose  country  residence  was  near  that  of  President  Adams,  interested 
himself  in  this  matter.      He  gave  Mr.  Adams  a  sketch  of  Taunton  Green,  a 


20  THE  MEMOIRS   OF 

specimen  of  my  crude  pencilling.  These  gentlemen  procured  from  Mr. 
Adams  the  promise  that  the  Secretary  of  War  should  send  me  the  warrant 
in  the  ensuing  spring  of   1800. 

My  whole  time  was  now  devoted  to  reading  whatever  I  could  find  on 
military-  subjects.  My  preceptor,  Mr.  Dogget,  permitted  me  the  use  of  his 
library,  and  from  the  encyclopoedia  I  transcribed  the  articles  "Gunnerj'," 
"Fortification,"  "War"  and  "Pyrotechnics,"  and  copied  all  the  plans, 
including  the  implements  of  Sappers  and  Miners.  Lieutenant  Steel  had 
loaned  me  the  military  works  of  Muller,  which  I  found,  in  several  articles, 
too  profound  for  me. 

At  the  close  of  this  year  of  1799,  the  death  of  Washington  spread  dismay 
throughout  the  country. 

In  Taunton,  as  in  most  other  towns  throughout  the  Union,  there  was 
much  gathering  of  the  people  at  the  funeral  obsequies.  The  boys  of  our 
village  were  permitted  to  join  the  procession,  and  it  was  my  province  to 
draw  devices  for  the  truncheons  of  the  Marshals,  and  for  the  banner  borne 
by  the  scholars  of  the  academy. 

Anno  1800.  With  the  anxiety  of  a  boy  I  waited  upon  the  post  office 
from  an  early  day  in  the  spring  of  this  year,  for  the  result  of  the  promise  of 
President  Adams.  Late  in  the  month  of  May  my  eyes  were  gladdened  by 
the  sight  of  the  frank  of  Secretary  "McHenry,"  containing  my  warrant 
of  cadet,  dated  12th  May,  1800,  with  orders  to  report  myself  for  duty 
with  Colonel  Lewis  Tousard,  the  commandant  of  engineers  in  the  harbor 
of  Newport,  R.  L  My  excellent  mother  soon  filled  my  trunk,  and  also, 
giving  my  schoolmates  an  evening  party  for  my  leave-taking,  dispatched 
me  in  less  than  three  weeks,  so  that  on  12th  June  I  presented  myself  to 
Major  Daniel  Jackson  of  the  Artillery,  at  Newport,  who  commended  me 
to  Lieutenant-Colonel  Lewis  Tousard,  the  engineer  of  the  harbor.  This 
veteran  gentleman  received  me  with  courtesy,  invited  me  to  dine,  and 
introduced  me  to  Mrs.  Tousard,  and  a  hantlsonu;  Philadcli)hia  lady.  Miss 
Gillespie,  who  appeared  young  enough  to  be  the  daughter  of  the  colonel. 
I  was  attached  to  the  company  of  Captain  Stoddard,  at   Voxl  Wolcott,  and 


GENERAL  JOSEPH  GARDNER  SWIFT.  2  I 

received  as  a  member  of  the  officers'  mess,  renewing  my  acquaintance  with 
Lieutenant  Steel,  and   returning  to    him  the  works  of  Muller  previously 
mentioned.     Colonel  Tousard  had  been  a  Captain  in  Count  Rochambeau's 
army;  was  at  the  battle  of  Quaker  Hill,  1778,  where  he  lost  an  arm  in  a  very 
gallant    action.     This    want    of   a   limb,   and  his  fine   military  aspect  gave 
the    veteran    an    heroic    appearance;    and    although    one-armed    he  was  a 
good   draughtsman,  and    favored    me  with  some  lessons  in   military   plan- 
drawing,    and    he    also    bestowed    upon    me    a    case    of    Paris    drawing 
instruments.      The  colonel  sent    me,  in  the  capacity  of  aid,  in  his  barge 
to  look  after  and  bring  him   account    of  the    works  on   the  forts  at  the 
Dumpling  Rocks,   and   at    Rose   Island,    Fort    Adams    and    Fort  Wolcott. 
These   works    were    then    closing    under    the    immediate    care    of    Lieu- 
tenant   Droasy — in    fact    suspending   for    want    of    appropriations  —  leav- 
mg,    among    other    exposed    walls,    those    of    an    extensive    barrack    at 
Fort    Hamilton,    on     Rose     Island,    in     an    unfinished     condition.      Fort 
Wolcott    was    one    of    the    designs   of    Colonel     Rochefontaine,    a    very 
small  redout  of  a  Cross-Moline   form,  enclosing  a    stone    magazine,  upon 
which    is    engraved   the   name  of  that  officer,  and   Mr.    Boss,  the   United 
States  agent,  to   commemorate    the  event    of  its  erection,    1794;    and  on 
the  key-stone  of  the  gateway  arch  at  Fort  Adams,  the  names  of  Colonel 
Tousard    and   John    Adams,    the    President    of    the    United    States,    were 
inscribed,    for    similar    information,    1798.     A    "South    Wing   Battery,"  as 
it    was    called,    was    constructing    at    Fort    Wolcott,   and    of   earth,   and   it 
was    my    duty    to     superintend     the     laborers    in     forming    this    parapet, 
upon    which    were     mounted     six    thirty-two    pound     cannon;     in    which 
operation   I    received    my  first    lesson   in   the    use  of  the   "French   Gin," 
m   proving    some   brass   howitzers   that    had    recently  been   received   from 
the   foundry   of   Mr.   Paul    Revere,    of   Boston. 

The  change  of  scene  from  quiet  Taunton  Green  to  military  duty  upon 
the  fortifications  of  Rhode  Island  was  a  charm,  and  it  was  some  time 
before  the  novelt>'  wore  off,  and  before  the  reveille  found  me  in  bed.  The 
circles  of  Newport  were  rendered  fashionable  by  the  summer  residence 
there  of  several   Carolina   families,  and,  though  young,   I   was   favored  by 


22  THE  MEMOIRS   OF 

the  attentions  of  some  of  them,  and  by  those  of  the  resident  families, 
the  Gibb's,  Champlain,  Auchmety,  Hunter,  WTiitehouse,  and  Mr.  Gold 
S.  Silliman. 

The  period  had  arrived  for  the  disbandment  of  the  Provisional  Army, 
a  part  of  which,  with  its  ranks  not  half  filled,  was  cantoned  at  Oxford, 
Massachusetts,  including  the  14th  Regiment  before  mentioned;  the 
military  stores  from  whence  were  re-stored  in  the  garrison  of  Newport 
Harbor,  in  the  making  returns  of  which  I  had  my  share  of  employment. 
In  this  summer  arrived  General  Hamilton,  with  his  suite.  Colonel  Aaron 
Ogden  and  Captain  Abraham  R.  Ellery,  to  inspect  the  fortifications  and 
the  troops  in  the  harbor.  It  was  my  good  fortune  to  be  charged  with 
the  salute  of  cannon  at  Fort  Wolcott,  and  on  resuming  my  position  on 
parade  was  introduced  to  the  general,  who,  may  be  in  consideration  of 
my  youth,  complimented  me  on  the  accuracy  of  time  in  the  salute,  and 
invited  me  to  join  the  other  officers  at  dinner  at  "Thomas  Townsend's," 
in  town.  The  deportment  of  the  general  was  a  verj'  easy  and  pleasant 
dignity,  and  I  listened  with  all  my  ears  to  his  remarks.  Among  the 
guests  at  the  general's  dinner  were  Captain  Perry,  United  States  Navy, 
and  his  son,  Oliver  H.,  who  had  entered  the  service  as  midshipman  a  few 
months  before  my  becoming  a  cadet,  and  with  whom  a  pleasant  intimacy 
was  formed,  and  indulged  at  my  own  quarters  and  in  the  steerage  on  board 
the  frigate  General  Green.  Before  and  after  dinner  comments  were  made 
upon  the  fact  that  President  Adams  had  not  promoted  General  Hamilton 
on  the  death  of  Washington  —  some  of  them  not  flattering  to  the  justice 
of  the  President  —  but  the  pretensions  of  other  generals,  and  the  settlement 
of  prominent  difficulties  with  France,  were  deemed  to  be  sufficient  reasons 
for  the  omission. 

In  the  fall  of  the  year  I  visited  my  mother  at  Taunton,  and  instead  of 
finding  her  in  the  new  hou.se,  had  to  witness  its  destruction  by  fire  on 
the  1 6th  of  September,  during  my  father's  ab.scnce  at  Nantucket,  whither 
he  had  gone  to  receive  some  aid  to  pay  for  this  Iniilding  from  the  estate  of 
my  grandfather,  who  had  died  in  November,  1799,  at  the  age  of  68.  This 
scene  was  very  sail,  but  my  mother  bore  it  with  an  equanimity  that  distin- 


GENERAL  JOSEPH  GARDNER  SWIFT.  23 

guished  her  among  those  who  knew  her  best.     As  is  common  in  house- 
burnings,  suspicions  were  in  this  case  attached  to  an  incendiary;  but  it  was 
ludicrous  to  hear  a  superstitious  cant  that  the  fire  was  a  divine  retribution 
for  disturbing  the  ashes  of  Elizabeth  Pool  —  before  alluded  to  as  the  first 
proprietor  of  the  town,  and  whose  tomb  had  become  the  site  of  my  father's 
house.     In  the  month  of  October  I  returned  to  my  post  at  Fort  Wolcott. 
The  company  drill  had  become  an   old   story,  but  we  were  amused  with 
some  experiments  in  throwing  thirty-two  pounder  shot,  some  of  which,  at 
a  small   elevation,  reached   the   Dumpling  Rocks.     At  this  place   Colonel 
Tousard    had    commenced    an    oval    tower,    to    form   a   cross-fire   with   the 
other    forts.      Its    unfinished    caserns    were    left    by  Congress    exposed   to 
decay  in   common  with   other  masonry  at   the   three  other  forts.     In   our 
recreations    at    the    mess    table    politics,    as    a   topic,    were    not    tolerated, 
although  the   officers  held   decided    opinions,   and  were  generally  Feder- 
alists.     During  the  past  seasons  of  1800  there  had  been  much  irritation 
through    the    country    on     the    coming    elections.       President    Adams,    it 
was  said,  had  abandoned  the  Federalists,  by  whom  he  had  been  elected, 
and  his  conduct  to  his  Cabinet  was  said  to  be  disrespectful  to  the  memory 
of  Washington,  whose  Cabinet  Mr.  Adams  had  retained.     But  Mr.  Adams 
was  not  quiescent  under  the  insults  of  France,  and  this  course  was  deemed 
by  the  Jacobins  an  offence  to  gratitude.     We  had  letters  of  marque  and 
some  frigates  at  sea,  and  the  "Insurgent,"  forty-four,  had  been  captured  by 
Commodore  Truxton  in  the  "  Constellation,"  thirty-six,  while  a  third  embassy 
to    France    had    been    instituted.      This    endangered    the    election    of  Mr. 
Adams    or    General    Pinkney,   at    the  same   time  that  the  urgency  of  M. 
Talleyrand,    to    come    to  terms    so    suddenly   after  insulting  our   embassy, 
was  deemed  to  promote  the  elevation  of  Mr.  Jefferson.     The  convention, 
in  the    finale,   had   secured    nothing  but  promises  to  adjudicate  at   some 
undefined  period  for  the  spoliations  committed  on  the  seas.     These  were 
prolific  subjects  in  all  societies,  and  their  discussion  created  much  personal 
animosity.      My   friend.    Captain    Stoddard,   to    whose    mind    I    was    wont 
to  defer,   said   that  these  relations  with  France  were   risking  the   perma- 
nence of  Federal  measures,  while  other  Federalists  held  that  Mr.   Adams' 


24  THE  MEMOIRS   OF 

course  was  wise  and  peaceful.  At  any  rate,  these  discrepancies  were 
confusing  the  action  of  the  Federal  party,  and  advancing  the  influence 
of  Mr.  Jefferson. 

There  were  portions  of  the  work  at  Fort  Adams,  upon  the  magazine 
and  wharf,  that  were  incomplete,  and  which  the  artificers  of  the  companies 
of  Stoddard  and  Heniy  had  been  detailed  to  execute.  I  was  placed  on 
duty  there  under  the  direction  of  Lieutenant  Droasy,  and  attached  to 
the  artillery'  company  of  Captain  Henry,  and  became  messmate  of  Lieu- 
tenant John  Knight  and  Lieutenant  John  W.  Livingston,  a  native  of  New 
York,  and  a  gentleman  of  prudent  and  systematic  habits.  Lieutenant 
Knight  was  of  a  more  errant  character.  He  was  from  the  Eastern  Shore 
of  Maryland,  and  married  Miss  Sally  Malbone  of  Newport,  by  whose 
introduction  I  became  acquainted  with  her  brother,  Edward  Malbone,  the 
artist,  and  also  Mr.  Washington  Allston,  the  intimate  associate  of  Mr. 
Malbone,  and  a  recent  graduate  of  Cambridge  College  —  both  of  them 
very  interesting  gentlemen.  I  found  Captain  John  Henry  an  Irishman 
of  many  pretensions,  but  his  wife  a  pleasant  acquaintance.  She  was 
a  daughter  of  the  family  of  Ruche,  or  Duche,  of  Philadelphia.  The  lady 
was  a  Swedenborgian,  and  she  observed  some  peculiar  rites  of  that  sect. 

1 80 1.  It  was  not  until  the  lapse  of  some  half  dozen  of  years  that  the 
essay  of  Mr.  Adams  to  commend  appropriations  for  defensive  work  son 
the  coast  and  Niagara  frontier  was  revived.  The  appropriations  for  the 
army  for  the  year  1801  were  two  millions,  and  for  \\-\&  fabrication  of  artns, 
and  for  repairs  of  fortifications,  six  hundred  and  thirty  thousand  dollars. 

Early  in  the  winter  of  this  year  Major  William  McRea,  of  the  2d 
Artillery,  had  relieved  Major  Jackson  in  the  command  of  Newport  Harbor. 
Our  new  commandant  was  from  Virginia.  He  had  been  a  captain  in 
the  3d  Sub  Legion,  under  Generals  Wayne  and  Wilkinson.  He  married 
in  Newport  a  belle,  Miss  Mary  Champlain.  The  major  established  his 
quarters  at  Port  Adams,  and  received  me  into  his  mess.  The  winter 
was  very  boisterous,  and   my  chief  employment  was  reading. 

At  this  time  the  change  of  the  national  administration  to  the  presidency 
of  Mr.  Jefferson  had  not  evinced  any  material  change  of  measures.     Much 


GENERAL  JOSEPH   GARDNER  SWIFT.  25 

disturbance  was  exhibited  in  the  newspapers  as  proceeding  from  office- 
bidders  and  office-seekers.  Mr.  Jefferson  was,  in  the  opinion  of  the  latter, 
too  tardy  in  displacements,  a  measure  of  doubtful  utility  generally  ;  and 
as  ejecting  subordinates,  it  is  undoubtedly  a  vicious  policy,  the  office  being 
intended  for  public,  and  not  for  personal  benefit,  save  by  its  incidental 
effects.  The  official  experience  of  clerks  is  a  species  of  national  property, 
and  changing  them,  save  for  incapacity,  vice,  or  old  age,  must  produce 
delays  and  errors  in  official  transactions. 

The  4th  of  July  was  this  year  celebrated  at  the  forts  in  Newport  Harbor 
with  a  display  suitable  to  the  day,  and  also  with  some  show  in  town,  where 
William  Hunter,  Esq.,  was  the  orator;  a  gentleman  who  had  been  educated 
in  England — a  Federalist.  His  oration  was  deemed  by  our  officers  to 
be  too  florid,  but  to  my  apprehension,  it  was  learned  and  beautiful.  Mr. 
Hunter  had  a  small  collection  of  fine  paintings  at  his  residence,  the  work  of 
Rosa  de  Tivoli.  These  pictures  had  been  presented,  in  Italy,  to  the  father 
of  Mr.  Hunter,  who  had  been  a  surgeon  in  the  British  army,  and  "who  had 
rendered  important  professional  aid  to  some  gentlemen  of  distinction  near 
Florence,"  who  had  bestowed  these  pictures  on  the  doctor.  These 
specimens  of  art  were  placed  in  the  Academy  of  Fine  Arts  in  the  Bowling 
Green,  New  York. 

In  the  ensuing  month  of  August  I  had  leave  of  absence  to  visit  my 
father's  family  at  Taunton,  and  was  accompanied  by  my  brother  cadet, 
Lewis  Lowdais,  the  brother  of  Lieutenant  Philip  of  the  ist  Artillery.  I 
found  that  since  I  had  been  home  a  brother  had  been  born,  who  was  named 
for  two  of  my  mother's  Ijrothers,  William  and  Henry.  While  in  Taunton  I 
apprehended  a  deserter  from  the  army,  one  Seth  Robbins,  and  marched  him 
and  myself  to  Newport  —  thirty-six  miles,  in  twelve  hours  —  and  for  which 
service  the  Secretary  of  War,  General  Dearborn,  had  directed  the  reward  of 
ten  dollars,  to  be  sent  to  me  by  Mr.  William  Simmons.  Robbins  made  an 
unsuccessful  essay  to  leave  me  on  the  road,  which  made  it  needful  to  bind 
both  his  hands. 

During  this  summer  of  1801  General  Dearborn,  the  Secretary  of  War, 
had  given  notice  to  our  little  army  that  President  Jefferson  had  directed  the 


26  THE  MEMOIRS    OF 

establishment  of  a  military  school  at  West  Point,  for  the  instruction  of  cadets, 
under  the  law  of  1 794  and  subsequent  acts  of  Congress  that  authorized  the 
appointment  of  professors  of  the  arts  and  sciences,  and  for  the  purchase  of 
apparatus  and  instruments  necessary  for  the  instruction  of  the  artillerists 
and  engineers.  General  Washington  had  uniformly,  and  to  the  close  of  his 
life,  urged  the  necessity  of  this  school,  and  had  made  an  effort  in  1 794 
to  open  such  a  school  at  West  Point,  but  the  officers  did  not  relish  the 
discipline  of  a  school  —  at  least  it  was  so  said  of  the  younger  by  several  of 
the  older  officers  of  the  army. 

On  the  first  of  October  I  received  a  letter  from  General  Dearborn 
directing  me  to  repair  to  this  school.  The  order  found  me  in  the  act 
of  closing  a  survey  of  the  forts  in  Newport  Harbor,  and  in  making  a 
schedule  of  the  armament,  by  the  order  of  Major  McRea.  As  soon  as 
this  duty  was  accomplished,  to  wit,  on  the  7th  October,  I  took  my  passage 
on  board  a  New  York  packet  "up  the  Sound"  and  arrived  at  the  city  on 
the  10th.  This  was  my  first  voyage  so  far  from  home.  The  next  morning 
I  took  a  "  Whitehall  boat"  to  Governor's  Island  and  presented  my  letter 
of  introduction  from  Lieutenant  Knight  to  Dr.  James  Scanlan,  the  surgeon 
of  Fort  Jay  on  that  island,  who  presented  me  to  Captain  Cochrane  and  the 
other  officers  of  the  garrison.  The  doctor  proposed  an  excursion  to  the 
various  points  in  the  beautiful  bay,  and  in  the  garrison  barge  the  following 
day  accompanied  me  to  the  old  military  works  on  Brooklyn  and  Gowanus 
Heights,  the  scene  of  the  first  discomfiture  of  Washington,  Anno  1776. 
The  doctor  was  a  great  admirer  of  militar)'  history,  and  quite  familiar  with 
the  scenes  before  us.  The  courtesy  of  this  gentleman  made  a  strong 
impression  on  my  memory.  He  was  from  the  eastern  shore  of  Maryland, 
and  a  relation  of  Lieutenant  Knight  of  Fort  Adams.  On  the  14th  October 
in  a  Newburg  packet  I  was  sailing  before  a  fine  breeze  up  the  Hudson. 
The  day  was  clear  and  the  palisades  and  precipitous  walls  were  a  novelty  in 
height,  as  they  have  been  to  multitudes  of  other  travelers.  From  failure 
of  wind  and  tide  the  vessel  came  to  anchor  in  Haverstraw  Bay,  near  Stony 
Point,  and  the  master  permitted  me  the  use  of  his  boat  and  an  oarsman  to 
visit  the  ground  where  Wayne  and  (iibbons  had  won  laurels  in  the  storm  of 


GENERAL  JOSEPH  GARDNER  SWIFT.  27 

that  point.     The  entrance  into  the  highlands  was  at  sunset  —  an  impressive 
scene  to  one  who  had  never  before  seen  a  mountain  like  the  "Dunderbero-." 
We  reached  West  Point  at  dusk.     The  name  of  this  place  had  raised  many 
pictures   to    my    imagination    of    Revolutionary    history — the    treason    of 
Arnold;    the   fate  of  Andre.      It  was  a  calm  October  evening;    the  only 
sound  was  that  of  the  cow  bell.     This  sound  at  West  Point  has  no  doubt 
left  a  pleasant  remembrance  with  many  a  cadet.     To  this  day  the  sound  of 
the   cow  bell   revives   the   evening   of    my  first  landing  at  West  Point.      I 
reported  myself  to  the  commandant,  Lieutenant  Osborn,  and  to   Professor 
Baron.     Was  received  by  Lieutenant  William  Wilson  and  Lieutenant  Lewis 
Howard  as  a  member  of  their  "artillery  mess."     Professor  Baron   furnished 
me  with  Dr.  Hutton's  Mathematics,  and  gave  me  a  specimen  of  his  mode 
of  teaching  at  the  blackboard  in  the  academy.     The  academic  hours  were 
four  in  each  morning,  from  eight  o'clock.     There  were  twelve  cadets  that 
formed,  as  yet,  one  class.     The  lesson  to  be  given  was  accompanied  with  a 
lecture  from  Mr.  Baron  upon  its  application.     The  afternoons  of  the  day 
were  variously  occupied  in  some  brief  military  exercises,  but  much  more  in 
field  sports.     Our  professor,  George  Baron,  was  a  north  of  England  man 
from  Berwick-on-Tweed,  or  South  Shields.     He  had  been  a  fellow  teacher 
with  Charles   Hutton  of   the    military  academy  at  Woolwich.      Mr.   Baron 
was  of  rude  manner  but  he  was  an  able  teacher.     He  deemed  Lieutenant 
Wilson's  hospitality  to  me  as  too  exclusive,  and  wished  me  to  join  a  small 
mess  of  cadets  who  were  not  comfortably  lodged ;  and  moreover  there  was 
as  yet  no  regular  cadet  mess  at  the  Point.      Soon  after  my  stating  this 
objection  to  Mr.  Baron,  he  sent  his  servant  with  a  verbal  order  to  me  on 
this  subject  of  mess.      I  declined  receiving  any  order  from  the  mouth  of  a 
servant.      In  an  hour  after  Mr.  Baron  appeared  at  the  fence  of  the  yard 
called  the  old  artillery  quarters,  in  which  I  was  conversing  with  Lieutenant 
Wilson.      He  said  to  me,  "Do  you  refuse  to  obey  my  orders?  "     My  reply 
was,  "  No,  sir,  but  I  refuse  to  receive  a  verbal  order  by  any  servant."     Mr. 
Baron    replied,   "  You   are  a  mutinous  young  rascal."      I   sprang  over  the 
fence  to  assault  Baron.      He   fled   to  the   academy,  and   thither  I   followed 
him.      He  bolted  the  door  in  my  face,  and  from  the  window  of  the  upper 


28  THE  MEMOIRS   OF 

Story,  the  "  long  room,"  he  apphed  coarse  epithets,  and  to  which  I  retorted. 
At  this  time  Mr.  Bradock  Havens,  the  master  of  the  Butter-Milk  Falls 
packet  "  Ranger"  was  passing,  and  Mr.  Baron  desired  him  to  witness  my 
language.  In  less  than  an  hour  after  Cadet  S.  Gates  called  on  me  with  a 
written  order  to  consider  myself  in  arrest.  The  whole  of  these  things  I 
faithfully  reported  to  the  Secretary  of  War.  By  some  influence  unknown 
to  me  General  Dearborn  condescended  to  write  to  me  in  reply,  advising  me 
to  make  some  apology  to  Mr.  Baron  and  avoid  dismissal  from  the  army. 
To  this  considerate  attention  Lieutenant  Wilson  counseled  my  rejoinder, 
stating  that  the  officers  of  the  post  deemed  Mr.  Baron's  conduct  to  me  so 
imgentlemanly  and  irritating  that  an  apology  could  not  be  made  to  him. 
At  this  juncture  a  circumstance  occurred  that  suspended  action  against  me, 
and  an  official  report  was  made  to  the  Secretary  of  War  by  the  command- 
ant. Lieutenant  Osborn,  that  Mr.  Baron  had  been  guilty  of  a  crime.  Mr. 
Baron  was  placed  in  arrest  in  the  month  of  November,  therefore  the 
academic  course  was  suspended,  and  I  was  at  leisure,  and  my  arrest  of  no 
further  restraint  than  it  held  me  in  readiness  for  trial.  A  portion  of  my 
leisure  was  employed  in  exploring  the  Point  more  minutely  than  I  had 
done  and  the  hills  and  redouts  in  the  vicinity. 

West  Point  Plain  is  one  hundred  and  ninety  feet  above  the  level  of  the 
Hudson,  and  forms  an  area  of  .seventy  acres  bounded  by  the  margin  of  the 
plain  overlooking  the  river  on  the  east  and  north.  The  buildings  which  I 
found  on  my  first  arrival  at  the  Point  were,  at  the  dock  a  stone  house ;  on 
the  brow  of  the  hill  above  the  first  dwelling  is  the  "White  quarters,"  the 
residence  then  of  the  commandant.  Lieutenant  Osborn,  and  his  beautiful 
wife  ;  and  then  the  artillery  mess  of  Lieutenants  Wilson  and  Howard.  The 
academy  is  situated  on  the  western  margin  of  the  plain,  near  the  base  of 
rocks  on  whose  summit,  four  hundred  feet  above,  stands  Fort  Putnam. 
Near  the  academy  was  an  office  on  the  edge  of  a  small  hollow,  in  which 
depression  were  the  remains  of  a  mound  that  had  been  formed  at  the  close 
of  the  Revolution,  to  celebrate  the  birth  of  a  Dauphin  of  France,  our  great 
ally  in  those  days.  To  the  .south  of  this  relic  were  the  headquarters 
tliat  had  been  the   residence  of   General   Knox  and  the  scene  of  many  an 


GENERAL  JOSEPH  GARDNER  SWIFT.  29 

humble  meal  partaken  by  Washington  and  his  companions  in  arms,  at  this 
time  the  residence  of  Major  George  Fleming,  the  military  store-keeper. 
Farther  south  the  quarters  of  Lieutenant  J.  Wilson  and  A.  Macomb,  and 
a  small  building  afterwards  used  for  a  laboratory.  In  front  of  these  was 
the  model  yard,  containing  a  miniature  fortress  in  wood,  used  in  the  lectures 
on  fortification,  the  handiwork  of  Colonel  Rochefontaine  and  Major  Rivardi. 
Around  this  yard  Cadet  Armistead  and  myself  planted  twelve  elm  trees. 
To  the  south  and  at  the  base  of  Fort  Putnam  Hill  also  were  Rochefontaine's 
quarters,  now  the  residence  of  the  family  of  Lieutenant  Colonel  Williams ; 
diagonally  from  the  garden  gate  of  these  quarters  Rochefontaine  had 
constructed  a  paved  foot  walk  to  the  barrack  on  the  northeast  side  of  the 
plain,  now  the  cadet's  quarters.  They  are  two  hundred  and  forty  feet  in 
length  and  were  constructed  by  Major  Rivardi,  whose  quarters  were  in  a 
building  at  the  northern  base  of  the  Fort  Putnam  Hill,  by  the  road  leading 
to  the  German  Flats  and  Washington's  Valley.  Below  the  plain  at  the 
northwest,  near  the  river,  were  the  military  stores,  two  long  yellow 
buildings,  containing  the  arms  and  accoutrements  of  the  army  of  Burgoyne 
and  also  numerous  brass  ordnance  surrendered  at  Saratoga,  and  especially 
a  couple  of  brass  "grasshoppers"  taken  by  General  Green  in  South 
Carolina,  and  by  resolve  of  Congress  presented  to  that  verj'  distinguished 
commander — all  under  the  care  of  Major  Fleming,  who  seemed  to  view 
them  as  almost  his  own  property,  he  having  served  in  the  conquest  at 
Berries  Heights  and  Saratoga.  To  the  east  of  these  stores  was  the  armory, 
and  also  the  residence  of  Zebina  Kingsley,  the  armorer,  and  his  exemplary 
wife.  To  the  east  was  the  hospital,  under  the  charge  of  Dr.  Nicholas 
Jones,  our  surgeon,  and  brother  of  Mrs.  Lieutenant  Osborn.  At  the 
northeast  angle  of  the  plain  was  Fort  Clinton,  a  dilapidated  work  of 
Generals  Drefortail  and  Kosciusko,  engineers  in  the  Revolutionary  War. 
This  work  was  garnished  with  four  twenty-four-pounder  cannon,  on  sea  coast 
carriages.  The  fort  also  enclosed  a  long  stone  magazine  filled  with  powder 
"many  years  of  age."  The  gloomy  portals  of  these  walls  might  remind 
one  of  Dante's  Inferno.  To  the  west,  overlooking  the  plain  and  five 
hundred  feet  of  elevation,  is  F"ort  Putnam,  a  stone  casemated  castle,  having 


30  THE  MEMOIRS   OF 

on  its  platform  a  couple  of  twenty-four-pounder  field  pieces  of  artillery. 
This  work  was  commenced  in  1777,  and  had  been  repaired  at  various 
periods  and  never  completed.  The  tradition  was  that  Arnold  had  purposed 
to  admit  British  troops  from  the  rear  of  this  castle  to  overawe  the  plain 
and  works  below.  A  surer  plan  for  the  purpose  of  the  traitor  could  not 
have  been  devised.  On  the  eastern  margin  of  the  plain  and  sixty  feet 
below,  there  are  stone  steps  leading  to  a  small  area  whose  outward  edge  is 
of  rock,  sloping  almost  vertically  to  the  Hudson.  In  this  area  is  a  small 
basin  in  which  had  played  a  fountain,  the  whole  having  been  constructed 
by  Kosciusko,  and  was  his  retreat  and  called  after  him,  "  Kosciusko's 
Garden."  Lieutenant  Macomb  and  myself  had  repaired  this  garden,  and  it 
is  a  favorite  resort. 

Some  ninety  yards  south  of  Rivardi's  barracks  is  a  circular  depression  in 
the  plain,  on  the  west  margin  of  which  are  the  ruins  of  the  "old  provost." 
Nearly  a  mile  northwest  of  the  Point  a  ravine  leads  to  a  cascade  over  a 
rock,  the  water  from  which  winds  to  the  Hudson  at  the  "  red  house,"  the 
occasional  resting  place  of  Washington,  called  Washington's  Valley,  and  is 
at  the  termination  of  the  slope  of  the  Crow's  Nest,  a  mountain  of  fifteen 
hundred  feet  in  altitude  that  overlooks  the  point  and  river  and  many  miles 
around.  Adjoining  the  south  boundary  of  the  plain  a  road  leads  down  the 
bank  of  the  Hudson  to  Butter- Milk  Falls  and  to  Fort  Montgomery.  The 
last  named  is  the  scene  of  the  defeat  of  General  Clinton,  October,  1777. 
The  road  previously  mentioned  passed  through  the  farm  of  Esquire  North, 
whose  house  stood  near  the  south  boundary  of  the  plain,  a  tavern  that 
much  annoyed  the  command  at  West  Point  by  selling  rum  to  the  soldiers, 
because  of  an  illegal  act  of  Captain  Stelle  of  the  army,  who  in  1 794  had 
levelled  a  field  piece  at  North's  house  and  suffered  a  severe  penalty  therefor 
in  a  law  suit.  Mr.  North's  victory  proved  him  to  be  a  bad  citizen,  and  his 
.success  an  evidence  of  the  law's  supremacy. 

In  the  fall  of  this  year,  1801,  Lieutenant-Colonel  Tousard  had  established 
his  family  in  the  Rochefontaine  quarters  as  "inspector  of  artillery,"  and  on 
his  departure  to  this  duty  at  various  points,  Niagara,  etc.,  he  requested  me 
to  escort  Madame  Tousard  to  the  city.  New  York,  a  very  pleasant  e.xcursion 


GENERAL  JOSEPH  GARDNER  SWIFT.  3  I 

—  and  in  the  city,  with  the  families  of  WilHam  Denning,  Esq.,  of  Beverly, 
near  West  Point,  and  that  of  his  son-in-law,  Mr.  William  Henderson,  my 
time  was  very  agreeably  passed.  To  the  family  of  Mr.  Denning  I  had  been 
introduced  by  Lieutenant  William  Wilson,  and  generally  dined  there  on 
Sundays.  This  place,  Beverly,  was  the  headquarters  of  General  Arnold 
and  the  scene  of  his  first  open  act  of  treason,  when  he  escaped  in  his  barge 
to  the  Vulture.  My  lodging  room  at  Beverly  had  been  the  chamber  of 
Arnold.  It  was  at  Mr.  Denning's  that  I  first  met  Aaron  Burr,  who  was 
then  a  guest  at  Beverly.  The  place  had  been  the  property  of  Beverly 
Robinson,  who  with  his  family  had  fled  to  Nova  Scotia  in  the  Revolution, 
and  the  property  had  been  confiscated  under  the  laws  of  New  York,  and 
purchased  by  Mr.  Denning. 

In  December  I  returned  to  West  Point  and  reported  myself  to  Major 
Jonathan  Williams,  the  inspector  of  fortifications.  Mr.  Jefferson  had 
required  of  this  gentleman  "  to  repair  to  West  Point  and  make  himself 
thoroughly  acquainted  with  the  military  school  recently  there  established, 
and  to  assume  the  superintendence  of  the  same."  Major  Williams 
received  the  cadets  at  his  hospitable  board  in  the  "  Rivardi  quarters,"  and 
stated  to  us  the  course  of  instruction  that  he  proposed  to  pursue.  Mr. 
Baron's  case  had  first  to  be  examined  by  a  board  of  officers ;  improprieties 
were  proved,  and  by  order  of  the  President,  Mr.  Baron  was  dismissed  with 
unusual  marks  of  disgrace,  /.  <?.,  his  name  was  set  upon  the  public  buildings 
as  a  disgraced  officer.  The  court  found  me  "guilty  of  using  disrespectful 
words  to  my  superior  officer,"  but  1  was  released  and  ordered  to  duty. 

Mr.  Jefferson  had  now  been  in  office  nearly  a  year,  and  though  it  was  said 
that  he  was  opposed  to  the  existence  of  the  army,  still  there  had  been  in 
this  year,  1801,  $230,000  appropriated  to  repair  and  keep  in  order  the 
fortifications  that  had  been  commenced  in  1794  and  1798,  and  $400,000  for 
the  fabrication  of  arms ;  nevertheless  I  had  left  the  works  of  Rhode  Island 
nearly  suspended. 

Politics  were  not  generally  discoursed  upon  at  the  Point,  although  the 
political  opinion  of  every  person  there  was  well  known,  and  newspapers  of 
both  parties  were  taken.  My  paper  was  Major  Ben  Russel's  Columbian 
Centinel,  of  Boston. 


32  THE  MEMOIRS   OF 

In  the  ensuing  spring  the  new  military  law  of  Congress,  of  i6th  March, 
had  remodeled  the  army,  and  discharged  many  a  worthy.  Among  the 
number  was  the  veteran  Tousard  and  Lieuteant  Droasy,  my  instructors 
upon  the  public  works  in  Newport  Harbor.  The  case  of  Lieutenant-Colonel 
Tousard  occasioned  much  sorrow  at  West  Point.  He  was  aged,  and  had 
been  crippled  in  the  service  of  the  country;  an  industrious  ofificer,  well 
educated  at  the  military  school  of  La  Fere  in  France.  By  the  operation 
of  the  law  some  promotions  had  been  made  in  the  new  corps  of  engineers. 

In  April  the  Academy  was  opened  under  the  Professorate  of  Captain 
William  Amhurst  Barron,  formerly  a  captain  of  artillerists  and  engineers, 
and  transferred  to  the  new  corps.  He  had  been  a  tutor  in  mathematics  in 
the  University  of  Cambridge,  of  which  he  was  a  graduate  and  classmate  of 
John  Quincy  Adams.  He  was  the  son  of  a  surgeon  in  the  army  of  England, 
who  belonged  to  the  medical  staff  of  Lord  Amhurst  in  Canada,  and  for 
whom  Captain  Barron  was  named.  He  was  of  a  social  temper  and  kind 
nature,  and  these  qualities  did  not  impair  his  ability  as  a  teacher;  he  had  a 
facility  in  teaching.  In  a  few  weeks  thereafter  Captain  Jared  Mansfield,  of 
the  engineers,  became  the  acting  professor  of  Natural  and  Experimental 
Philosophy  at  the  academy.  This  gentleman  had  a  high  reputation  for 
learning,  and  was  the  author  of  an  erudite  essay  on  the  Motion  of  Bodies  in 
Free  Space.  He  had  been  a  teacher  in  Yale  College,  and  was  an  intimate 
of  Mr.  Jefferson's.  The  course  of  study  was  Hutton's  Mathematics, 
Enfield's  Philosophy  and  Vaubau's  Fortification,  with  practical  exercies  in 
the    fieUl    in    Surveying. 

In  the  month  of  May  a  letter  from  Major  McRea,  the  commandant  at 
Newport,  R.  I.,  requested  me  to  report  the  survey  of  the  fortifications  in 
Newport  Harbor  that  had  been  made  by  me  under  his  orders,  to  Major 
Williams,  the  inspector,  and  which  I  did  my  best  to  accomplish.  This  was 
my  first  essay,  and  it  was  favorably  received  by  the  inspector.  This  report 
occasioned  me  to  examine  what  had  been  done  by  the  government.  I 
found  that  the  inspectorship  of  fortifications  and  employment  of  two 
engineers  had  been  authorized  by  Congress  in  the  year  1799,  implying 
a  new  purpose  on  the  part  of  the  government,  to  improve  upon  the  system 
commenced  in  1794,  and  somewhat  enlarged  in  1798.     In  the  first  years  of 


GENERAL  JOSEPH   GARDNER  SWIFT.  y^ 

the  government  under  the  new  Constitution — 1789  and  '90  —  the  whole 
expenditure  of  the  War  Department  had  been  $137,000.  In  the  two 
following  years  the  Western  Indians,  instigated  by  our  own  rapacity  for  land, 
and  by  the  policy  of  England  to  retard  the  progress  of  the  Union,  had 
brought  on  a  war  in  the  North-West  Territory  that  resulted  at  first  in  the 
defeat  of  General  St.  Clair,  but  ultimatetly  in  the  overthrow  of  the  Indian 
power  by  General  Wayne,  by  the  battle  of  the  Maumee,  in  1796.  The 
expenditures  on  these  wars  from  1791  to  1794,  including  the  purchase  of 
arms,  had  been  $923,000.  In  the  year  1794  Congress  appropriated  $76,000 
for  maritime  fortifications,  and  $96,000  for  armament,  and  $131,000  for 
Western  defences.  This  maritime  system  of  defence  on  the  Atlantic  border 
embraced  the  harbors  of  Portland,  Portsmouth,  Gloucester,  Salem,  Marble- 
head,  Boston,  Newport,  New  London,  New  York,  Philadelphia,  Wilmington, 
Del.,  Norfolk,  Alexandria,  Ocracock  and  Cape  Fear,  Georgetown,  Char- 
leston, .Savannah  and  .St.  Mary's.  In  selecting  sites  for  these  works, 
those  where  defences  had  been  constructed  in  the  Revolutionary  War 
indicated  the  suitable  points.  Colonel  Rochefontaine,  Major  Rivardi  and 
other  officers  of  the  regiment  of  artillerists  and  engineers  were  employed 
in  the  construction  of  small  redouts.  None  of  sufficient  area  could 
have  been  attempted  under  a  fund  of  $76,000,  nor  prosecuted  usefully 
in  the  three  following  years;  during  which  period  $94,000  had  been 
appropriated  among  these  works,  including  $20,000  for  West  Point, 
appropriated  in  1796.  But  early  in  the  year  1798  the  aspect  of  war 
with  France  had  induced  Congress  to  appropriate  $310,000  for  fortifying 
the  Atlantic  harbors. 

In  the  month  of  June  I  became  security  for  the  payment  of  a  debt  of 
$119  by  Lieutenant  Strong  of  the  army,  son  of  Colonel  David  Strong,  4th 
Infantry.  This  affair  gave  me  extreme  trouble,  my  income  being  meagre. 
Strong  left  West  Point  with  promise  of  early  payment,  but  he  got  into  bad 
company,  became  an  inebriate,  and  soon  after  committed  suicide  in  prison. 

In  July,  by  transfer,  I  became  a  cadet  of  engineers.  The  corps,  as 
organized  by  the  law  of  i6th  of  March,  1802,  consisted  of  Lieutenant 
Colonel  Jonathan  Williams,  a  gentleman  of  much  learning  and  devoted  to 


34 


THE  MEMOIRS   OF 


science.  He  was  born  in  Boston,  and  had  been  brought  up  in  his  father's 
vocation,  a  merchant.  He  had  been  a  man  of  business  in  London,  married 
the  daughter  of  William  Alexander,  of  the  Scottish  family  of  Sterling. 
Mr.  Williams  had  also  been  the  agent  of  the  United  States  at  Paris 
and  Nantz  under  the  auspices  of  Dr.  Franklin,  his  kinsman,  and  who 
bequeathed  to  Mr.  Williams  a  part  of  his  library.  Mr.  Jefferson  had  said 
that  Mr.  Williams  resembled  Dr.  Franklin  in  character  and  pursuits  of 
science.  It  was  at  the  instance  of  Mr.  Jefferson  that  Colonel  Williams 
was  placed  at  the  head  of  the  corps  of  engineers.  The  next  officer  in 
that  corps  was  Major  Decius  Wadsworth,  a  graduate  of  Yale,  a  good 
mathematician.  He  had  been  a  captain  of  the  artillerists  and  engineers. 
Then  followed  Captain  William  A.  Barron  and  J.  Mansfield,  previously 
mentioned,  and  Lieutenant  James  Wilson,  a  highly  educated  gentleman, 
the  son  of  the  Judge  of  the  United  States  Supreme  Court,  who  had 
distinguished  himself  in  the  Constitutional  Convention  of  Pennsylvania, 
and  Lieutenant  Alexander  Macomb,  late  a  cornet  of  dragoons  and 
aid-de-camp  to  General  William  North,  the  adjutant-general  of  the 
late  Provisional  Army.  Neither  Wilson  nor  Macomb  had  been  cadets. 
The  number  of  cadets  at  the  academy  was  twelve.  Among  them  were 
Simon  Magruder  Levy,  from  a  respectable  Jew  family  of  Baltimore,  and 
formerly  a  sergeant  in  Captain  Lockwood's  company  of  infantry,  and 
thence  promoted  to  cadet  for  his  merit  and  mathematic  attainments. 
He  was  now  twenty-five  years  of  age.  Walker  Keith  Armistead,  from 
Virginia,  a  very  amiable  young  gentleman  of  eighteen  j'ears  of  age, 
and  to  whom  I  was  much  attached;  Henry  B.Jackson,  son  of  the  major 
of  artillery,  and  John  Livingston,  a  merchant  of  Norfolk,  Va. ;  then 
Ambrose  Porter,  a  man  of  six  feet  height  and  abounding  in  story-telling 
talent;  Joseph  Proveaux,  from  Charleston,  S.  C,  a  youth  of  seventeen, 
of  generous  spirit  but  passionate,  addicted  to  duelling  and  much  oppo.sed 
to  study;  two  brothers,  Samuel  and  William  Gates,  the  .sons  of  Captain 
Lemuel  Gates  of  the  army  —  the  former  a  good  scholar  and  very  taciturn  — 
the  latter  was  the  youngest  cadet  at  the  Point,  very  active,  a  sportsman 
and  a  general    favorite    among  the  cadets;    Hannibal  Montresor  Allen,  a 


GENERAL  JOSEPH  GARDNER  SWIFT.  35 

wild  youth  of  seventeen  years,  the  son  of  Ethan  of  Ticonderoga  memory; 
Julius  Frederick  Heileman,  a  handsome  youth  of  sixteen  years,  the  son  of  a 
surgeon  in  our  army  at  Fort  Jay,  who  had  belonged  to  the  corps  of  Colonel 
Baum  of  the  Hessian  corps  of  England,  at  the  battle  of  Bennington. 

During  the  summer  I  was  attached  to  the  company  of  artillery  of  Captain 
George  Izard,  as  acting  lieutenant.  In  some  infantry  exercises  a  private 
soldier,  Wm.  Goodwin,  on  the  left  Hank  of  the  company,  had  lodged  several 
cartridges  in  his  musket  before  it  gave  fire.  The  piece  burst,  wounded 
Goodwin  severely  and  prostrated  me  upon  the  ground,  from  which  I  was 
confined  to  the  hospital  for  several  days.  My  captain  was  the  son  of  Ralph 
Izard,  the  United  States  Senator  from  South  Carolina.  Captain  Izard  had 
been  educated  at  the  Military  School  of  Metz,  in  France ;  and  at  the  Experi- 
mental School  of  Metz,  he  was  esteemed  to  be  an  accomplished  officer.  He 
had  a  fine  collection  of  books  and  charts,  and  very  kindly  permitted  me  to 
look  into  them.  He  was  at  this  time  suffering  from  a  wound  received  in  a 
duel  with  Mr.  Pierre  of  Philadelphia.  The  cause  was  the  captain's 
declining  to  fulfill  an  engagement  with  the  sister  of  Mr.  Pierre,  but  without 
the  least  injury  to  the  honor  of  the  lady. 

During  this  year  there  was  no  new  fort  commenced  in  our  maritime 
harbors,  and  the  appropriation  of  $70,500  was  not  sufficient  to  keep  the 
redouts  in  repair. 

Early  in  this  summer  of  1802  Lieutenant  Macomb  and  myself  repaired 
the  dilapidated  garden  of  Kosciusko,  relaid  the  stone  stairway  to  the  dell, 
and  opened  the  little  fountain  at  the  base  of  "Kosciusko's  Rock"  in  the 
garden ;  planted  flowers  and  vines  and  constructed  several  seats,  which  made 
the  spot  a  pleasant  resort  for  a  reading  party.  In  the  exercises  in  the  field. 
Colonel  Williams  commenced  with  the  cadets  a  survey  of  the  country  about 
the  Point  by  a  series  of  triangles,  to  determine  the  position  and  altitude  of 
the  adjacent  mountains.  It  was  found  that  Crow's  Nest  summit  was  one 
thousand  four  hundred  and  eighty  feet  above  West  Point  Plain ;  the  Break 
Neck,  one  thousand  five  hundred;  Anthony's  Nose,  below  the  Point,  nine 
hundred;  the  Sugar  Loaf,  seven  hundred;  Fort  Putnam,  four  hundred;  and 
the  plain  itself  one  hundred  and  ninety  feet  above  the  Hudson. 


36  THE  MEMOIRS   OF 

On  the  first  of  September  commenced  the  first  public  examination  at  the 
Military-  Academy,  conducted  by  Colonel  Williams  and  Professors  Barron 
and  Mansfield.  The  text  books  were  Button's  Mathematics.  Enfield's 
Philosophy,  Vaubau's  Fortification  and  Scheet's  Artillery ;  using  the  model 
front  of  a  fort  that  had  been  long  at  the  Point,  constructed,  as  the  tradition 
ran,  by  Rivardi  and  Rochefontaine. 

Cadets  J.  G.  Swift  and  S.  M.  Levy  were  the  graduates,  and  they  were 
both  commissioned  to  rank  in  the  order  just  named  from  12th  October,  1802. 
On  the  1 8th  of  October  Colonel  Williams  invited  me  to  accompany  him  to 
Albany,  the  object  being  to  identify  certain  estate  documents  that  were  to 
be  sent  to  England ;  and  thither  we  proceeded  on  board  an  Albany  sloop, 
(and  found  our  fellow  passengers  to  be  Judge  Leonard  Gansvoort  and  his 
beautiful  niece,  Miss  Storm  of  New  York).  We  had  a  long  passage,  and 
arrived  at  Albany  on  fifth  day.  At  this  time  the  trial  between  Gouverneur 
and  Kemble  and  a  French  mercantile  house  was  in  progress,  and  we 
listened  to  the  eloquent  arguments  of  Alexander  Hamilton  and  Aaron  Burr. 
General  Hamilton  recognized  his  acquaintance  of  Newport  two  years  pre- 
viously, and  he  invited  me  to  dine  with  him  at  his  father-in-law's  —  General 
Philip  Schuyler's.  After  dinner,  among  the  subjects  of  conversation  was  the 
canal  and  improved  navigation  of  the  Mohawk,  to  connect  with  Lake 
Ontario  at  Oswego.  It  was  graphically  described  by  General  Schuyler, 
who.  though  suffering  with  gout,  was  eloquent  on  this  subject.  He 
regretted  that  the  locks  were  too  small,  and  the  Mohawk  unmanageable. 
He  spoke  of  the  object  of  the  tour  of  Washington  in  1 789  to  be,  among 
other  enquiries,  to  learn  what  improvements  could  be  made  to  connect  the 
Hudson  and  the  lakes.  He  also  mentioned  Mr.  Western,  an  English 
engineer,  who  had  been  over  the  Mohawk  route  and  was  deemed  a  skillful 
engineer,  etc.  The  conversation  of  General  Schuyler  on  the  Revolution  was 
very  instructive.  General  Hamilton  .spoke  of  Washington  visiting  General 
Webb  at  Fort  Lee,  and  that  General  Webb  was  not  there,  at  which  it  was  said 
that  General  Washington  threw  his  sword  to  the  earth  in  a  jjassion  at  the 
absence  of  Webb,  and  swore:  General  Hamilton  said  it  was  not  so;  General 
Washington   was  much   (lis|)leased.  and  expressed  himself  in   strong  terms 


GENERAL  JOSEPH  GARDNER  SWIFT.  ^-j 

of  disapprobation.      In  the  evening  an  amusing  scene  occurred  at  Rannie's 
Exhibition.     He  placed  a  card  in  the  hand  of  General  Hamilton,  promising 
to   turn    it   into   a  bank  bill.     The  General  joined  heartily  in  the  general 
laugh   and  joke  at  the  failure  of  the   mountebank  to  redeem  his  pledge. 
The    following    day    General     Hamilton,    Colonel    Williams    and    General 
Schuyler  discussed  the  subject  of  the  Military  Academy,  the  colonel  giving 
his  ideas  and  purposes  to  encourage  an  enlargement  of  the  present  plan ; 
General  Hamilton  approved,  and  he  regretted  that  the  Book  of  Instruments 
that  had  been  collected  at  West  Point  during  the  administration  of  Wash- 
ington had  been  lost,  by  the  burning  of  the  "Old  Provost"  at  the  Point,  in 
1 794-     He  said  that  the  fire  was  by  some  deemed  a  design  of  such  officers 
as  had  been  sent  to  the  Point  for  instruction  in  the  arts  and  sciences,  as 
provided  for  by  law.    This  building  had  been  of  stone,  and  was  situate  at  the 
edge  of  a  hollow  south  of  the  barrack  before  mentioned ;  and  the  story  ran, 
at  the  Point,  that  behind  the  Provost  had  been  the  scene  of  a  duel  between 
Colonel   Rochefontaine  and  my  friend   Lieutenant  William  Wilson  ;   in  fact 
Wilson   said  so  to  me,  and  that  but  for  an  accident  in  backing  the  pistol 
cock    it    had    been    a    fatal    affair    to    the    colonel  —  Anno    1793.     Colonel 
Williams  and  myself  examined  the  old  octagonal  Dutch  church,  that  stood 
at  the  junction  of  Market  and  State  Streets,  and   the  old    Hall   where,  in 
1754,  a  congress  had  been  held,  which   had   been  described  to  him  by  his 
friend  and  relative.  Dr.  Franklin.    After  purchasing  Neetat's  General  History 
and  the  Works  of  Hogarth,  from  Leavenworth  and  Whiting,  the  colonel  and 
myself  returned  to  West  Point  by  an  Albany  sloop;  and  being  becalmed  at 
Newburg,  walked   over   Butter   Hill   and    the   Crow's  Nest,  and  arrived  at 
the  Point  the  first  of  November. 

On  the  1 2th  of  this  month  a  meeting  was  assembled  in  the  "long 
room"  of  the  Academy,  consisting  of  Lieutenant-Colonel  Williams,  Major 
Wadsworth,  Professors  Barron  and  Mansfield,  Lieutenants  Wilson,  Macomb, 
Swift  and  Levy,  and  Cadet  Armistead,  for  the  purpo.se  of  forming  a  Military 
Philosophical  Society,  to  promote  military  science  and  history.  This 
society  soon  embraced  as  members  nearly  every  distinguished  gentleman 
in  the  navy  and  Union,  and  .several  in  Europe.  Its  funds  were  invested 
in  New  York  city  stock. 


38  THE  MEMOIRS   OF 

The  academ)-  was  closed  in  December,  and  I  visited  my  parents  in 
Taunton,  and  accompanied  my  mother  to  visit  her  mother  at  New  Bedford. 
This  visit  had  several  objects.  One  of  them  was  to  receive  from  my  grand- 
mother something  left  me  by  her  husband,  Thomas  Delano,  who  had  ever 
distinguished  me  with  marked  affection,  and  who  had  now  been  three  years 
deceased.  I  found  the  estate  still  unsettled,  and  returned  with  hope 
deferred.  Among  my  mother's  friends  was  an  elderly  lady,  Ma'am  Wilbur, 
the  sister  of  Dr.  Gideon  Williams,  who  had  the  fancy  to  teach  children 
to  read.  I  had  been  her  pupil.  The  mode  of  Mrs.  Wilbur  was  a  species  of 
musical  cadence,  spelling  each  syllable  and  sounding  the  same  in  time,  with 
open  and  clear  voice,  in  the  due  order,  until  the  whole  word  and  sentence 
was  spelled  and  sounded  simultaneously  by  the  whole  class  —  one  of  the 
best  modes  of  acquiring  distinct  pronunciation.  We  all  loved  her  heartily, 
and  I  presume  none  of  her  pupils  ever  visited  Taunton  during  her  life 
without  paying  their  respects  to  Ma'am  Wilbur. 

While  at  New  Bedford  my  grandmother  Delano  gave  me  an  account 
of  her  ancestors,  the  Swains  of  Nantucket,  who  came  thither  from  New- 
buryport  when  the  island  was  purchased.  Her  father  married  Eleanor 
Folger,  the  sister  of  Abiah,  the  mother  of  Dr.  Franklin.  Her  "father  was 
a  ship-master,  and  commanded  a  whaling  vessel  in  the  South  -Seas." 

1803.  In  the  month  of  January  I  made  a  jaunt  to  Milton  Hill  and 
Boston,  and,  with  my  cousin  John  .Swift  of  the  former  place,  visited  the 
graves  of  our  ancestors  in  the  "old  burying  ground  of  Milton,"  and  thence 
to  the  former  residence  of  Thomas  Swift,  our  immediate  ancestor,  as  before 
mentioned  in  this  diary;  where,  suspended  over  the  mantel  is  an  emblazonry 
of  the  arms*  of  the  Swifts  of  Yorkshire,  that  had  been  brought  over  by  our 
ancestor  Thomas.  In  Boston  I  met  ni)'  friend  Mr.  Gardner  and  Colonel 
Samuel  Bradford.  To  the  latter  I  had  a  letter  of  introduction  from  his 
brother-in-law,  Colonel  Williams.  I  also  met  Colonel  Joseph  May  of 
Boston,  who  gave  me  many  particulars  of  the  "Mohawk  Indians,"  who  had 
destroyed  the  tea  in  Boston  Harbor  —  the  precursor  of  the  Revolution. 
Colonel  May  had  been  a  friend  of  my  grandfather,  Samuel  Swift,  who  he 
said  had  been  active  in  promoting  that  event  of  destroying  the  tea. 

•  The  lame  from  which  Ihc  eoat-of-arms  in  this  work  is  taken.  —  //.  E. 


GENERAL  JOSEPH  GARDNER  SWIFT.  39 

In  the  month  of  February  I  returned  to  my  father's  in  Taunton.  My 
sister  Nancy  was  now  "in  company,"  and  one  of  the  most  beautiful  women 
I  ever  saw ;  my  brother  WilHam  Henr)-,  an  active  and  noisy  boy  not  yet  in 
jacket  and  trowsers.  My  father's  house,  that  had  been  rebuilt  on  the  ruins 
of  the  one  lost  by  fire,  was  a  very  commodious  and  pleasant  residence.  The 
acquaintances  of  my  boyhood  received  me  with  much  kindness,  and  my 
father's  friends  with  hospitality.  My  leave  expiring  in  March,  I  took  a  packet 
from  "the  Ware,"  the  head  of  navigation  on  Taunton  River,  and  by  Newport 
through  Long  Island  Sound,  in  which  we  encountered  a  north-west  gale 
and  snow  storm,  and  caught  a  glimpse  of  Huntington  Light  at  the  moment 
when  the  main  sail  split  by  the  wind  and  weight  of  snow,  in  which  plicrht 
the  packet  was  driven  ashore  upon  the  beach  of  Long  Island.  The  next 
day  the  crew  succeeded  in  floating  the  vessel  and  we  had  a  quick  run  to 
New  York,  and  arrived  at  West  Point  the  day  after,  just  in  time  to  answer 
to  my  name  at  the  muster  roll-call  at  the  close  of  the  month. 

In  the  month  of  April  by  order  of  the  Secretary  of  War,  Colonel  Williams, 
as  chief  engineer,  left  West  Point  for  Wilmington,  North  Carolina,  and 
Charleston,  South  Carolina;  Major  Wadsworth  to  New  London  and  New- 
port. The  repairs  of  the  fortifications  had  heretofore  been  conducted  under 
the  direction  of  officers  of  the  artillerists  and  engineers,  and  this  movement 
of  the  War  Department  was  to  commence  the  action  of  the  new  corps  of 
engineers.  Lieutenant  James  Wilson  had  orders  to  repair  Forts  Miflin  and 
Norfolk,  and  Lieutenant  Macomb  the  works  in  New  York  Harbor  and  Ports- 
mouth, New  Hampshire.  Congress  authorized  the  enlistment  of  twenty-one 
men  as  artificers  and  aids  to  the  engineer  service,  and  also  a  teacher  of 
French  and  drawing  was  authorized  at  the  Militaiy  Academy,  and  $109,000 
appropriated  to  repair  the  forts,  the  arsenals,  and  the  armories  of  the 
United  States. 

The  excitement  in  reference  to  the  cession  of  Louisiana,  and  consequent 
prospects  of  war  with  Spain,  had  caused  an  appropriation  of  a  million  and  a 
half,  and  also  of  $80,000  for  the  calling  out  of  the  militia,  and  $25,000  for 
western  arsenals;  looking  to  Baton  Rouge  as  a  point  for  that  purpose  in 
case  of  trouble  at  New  Orleans. 


40  THE  MEMOIRS   OF 

This  spring  George  Bomford  was  appointed  a  cadet.  My  acquaintance 
with  this  young  gentleman  commenced  at  a  country  store  opposite  to  West 
Point,  in  Warren's  Valley,  where  I  had  gone  to  kill  trout,  and  where 
Bomford  had  established  himself  as  a  dealer,  and  from  the  proximity  of 
the  marsh  he  had  taken  the  ague  and  fever.  I  invited  him  to  my  quarters 
at  the  Point,  where  he  regained  his  health ;  and  on  the  strength  of  my 
acquaintance  with  General  Dearborn,  in  the  Baron  affair,  1  wrote  an  appli- 
cation to  him  for  a  cadet's  warrant  for  Bomford,  and  in  a  short  period  the 
warrant  was  received.  Bomford  was  well  informed  on  many  subjects, 
ingenious  and  musical.  Soon  after  his  appointment  he  made  good  progress 
at  his  books,  and  became  our  principal  in  the  laboratory,  in  which  place 
Bomford  and  myself  had  a  narrow  escape.  A  rocket  had  taken  fire  while  in 
the  mould  and  driving,  the  flame  from  which  reached  the  floor  above,  upon 
which,  on  cartridge  paper,  was  a  mass  of  gun  powder.  Both  of  us  sprang 
to  the  window  and  became  jammed  for  want  of  space  for  both,  and  there 
struggled  until  the  rocket  was  exhausted.  Bomford  was  born  on  Long 
Island,  the  reputed   son   of  a  British  officer. 

In  this  month  of  May  Captain  George  Izard  marched  his  company  of 
artillery  to  Norfolk.  There  had  been  some  refusal  on  his  part  to  obey  a 
requisition  of  Colonel  Williams  for  a  detachment  from  his  company.  To 
avoid  future  collision  this  order  to  march  had  been  given.  Soon  after  this 
event  Colonel  Williams  returned  to  West  Point  from  North  Carolina, 
accompanied  by  Cadet  William  McRee  from  Wilmington.  The  colonel 
informed  the  corps  of  engineers  that  in  consequence  of  a  difference 
between  him.self  and  the  Secretary  of  War  on  the  subject  of  the  rights  of 
rank  and  command,  he,  the  colonel,  had  resigned  his  commi-ssion.  This 
intelligence  was  a  grief  to  every  one  at  the  Point.  The  cause  of  it  was  the 
unmilitary  and  needless  obscurity  in  the  terms  of  the  law  of  i6th  March, 
1802,  in  reference  to  rank  and  command. 

In  the  month  of  June  Francis  Ue  Masson  was  appointed  teacher  of 
the  I'rcnch  Language  and  Topographical  Drawing  at  the  academy,  and 
Lieutenant  Levy  and  myself  became  his  pupils  in  both  branches. 

At  the  celebration  of  Independence  this  year,  while  superintending  the 


GENERAL  JOSEPH  GARDNER  SWIFT.  41 

salute  at  P'ort  Clinton,  the  concussion  produced  by  a  twenty-four  pounder 
brought  blood  from  my  left  ear,  and  injured  permanently  my  hearing.  This 
was  occasioned  by  negligence  in  position. 

On  the  2 1  St  of  this  month  of  July,  the  family  of  our  worthy  chief  left  the 
Point,  breaking  up  our  principal  social  circle,  and  depriving  the  cadets  of 
an  important  source  of  instruction.  Colonel  Williams  had  been  the  friend 
and  adviser  of  every  one  of  us. 

In  the  following  month  I  was  summoned  as  a  member  of  a  court  martial, 
on  the  trial  of  Lieutenant  Van  Rensselaer  of  the  army,  at  Fort  Jay ;  at  the 
termination  of  which,  on  leave,  I  visited  Colonel  Williams  at  Perth  Amboy. 
where,  with  Lieutenant  A.  Macomb,  was  presented  our  views  of  an  appeal 
to  Mr.  Jefferson  to  commend  to  Congress  a  modification  of  the  law  of 
March,  and  thus  restore  the  colonel  to  the  corps  of  engineers.  The  colonel 
declined  any  action,  but  we  wrote  a  suitable  letter  to  the  President  and  took 
our  leave  of  our  retired  chief,  and  proceeded  to  Belleville,  N.  J.,  the 
pleasant  residence  of  Macomb's  family  on  the  Passaic,  and  with  them  made 
an  excursion  to  the  falls  of  that  river.  On  returning  to  West  Point  in 
September,  we  found  the  academic  affairs  much  deranged  by  the  resig- 
nation of  Professor  Mansfield,  upon  whom  Mr.  Jefferson  had  conferred  the 
surveyor-generalship  of  Ohio,  upon  which  service  Mr.  Mansfield  entered 
in  the  fall  of  this  year.  His  nephew.  Cadet  J.  G.  Totten,  became  an 
assistant  in  this  service.  The  departure  of  this  family  was  a  serious  loss  to 
our  society.  Mrs.  Mansfield  was  a  very'  intelligent  lady,  and  her  conver- 
sation not  only  agreeable  but  instructive  to  the  young  gentlemen  who 
found  a  welcome  at  her  residence. 

In  the  month  of  November  a  general  court  martial  was  convened  at 
Frederick  Town,  in  Maryland,  and  on  the  12th  of  the  month  with  Lieu- 
tenant Charles  Wolstoncroft  of  our  army  (a  native  of  England,  and  brother 
of  the  notorious  Mary  Wolstoncroft  Godwin,)  and  Lieutenant  W.  R.  Boot, 
also  a  native  of  England,  and  Lieutenant  R.  W.  Osborne,  a  native  of  St. 
Croix,  and  Lieutenant  William  Hossack  (the  brother  of  the  doctor  of  that 
name)  and  myself,  also  under  orders  to  attend  this  court,  took  the  stage 
at  Paulus  Hook,  and,  passing  a  day  in  Philadelphia  at  Frances'  hotel  in 


42  THE  MEMOIRS   OE 

F'urth  street,  we  arrived  in  Baltimore  at  the  Indian  Queen,  and  on  the 
1 8th  found  ourselves  at  the  celebrated  tavern  of  Mr.  Kimball,  in  Frederick. 
This  court  was  convened  for  the  trial  of  Colonel  Thomas  Butler  of  the 
army,  charged  with  disobedience  of  the  orders  of  General  Wilkinson,  which 
order  was  for  the  army  to  crop  the  hair  of  the  head,  and  the  whiskers  to  be 
no  lower  than  the  line  from  the  ear  to  the  mouth.  The  colonel  denied  the 
power  of  the  general  so  to  deprive  a  citizen  of  t!ie  United  States  of  that 
which  nature  had  conferred  for  use  and  ornament,  and  the  colonel  appeared 
at  the  court  with  a  long  queue  of  hair.  The  court  was  also  to  investigate  the 
case  of  Major  George  Ingersoll,  charged  with  selling  milk  in  the  garrison 
of  Fort  Jay  while  commandant  of  that  post;  an  accusation  made  by  Lieut. 
Wolstoncroft,  who  was  himself  charged  with  shooting  the  ducks  of  Major 
Ingersoll  while  in  arrest  at  the  said  Fort  Jay.  For  such  objects  —  though 
connected  with  points  of  military  discipline  —  officers  were  summoned  from 
the  extremities  of  the  Union.  While  these  trials  were  in  progress,  and 
pending  the  recesses  of  the  court,  the  thirteen  members  and  other  attending 
officers  enjoyed  the  hospitality  of  the  Mar)-landers,  especially  those  of 
Roger  B.  Taney,  Esq.,  a  counsellor  of  distinction,  and  John  Hanson 
Thomas  and  his  father.  Dr.  Philip  Thomas,  George  Murdock,  Capt.  William 
Campbell  of  Monocacy,  Richard  Pitts,  Baker  Johnson  and  Col.  McPherson, 
all  gentlemen  of  note  and  distinguished  Federalists.  .Such  an  association 
was  the  occasion  of  some  slander  at  Washington  City.  Among  the 
Democrats  there  it  was  said  that  these  officers  were  too  familiar  with  the 
opponents  of  the  Government.  The  truth  was,  that  every  officer  in  attend- 
ance and  of  the  court  were  Federalists,  save  Major  James  Bruff  and  Lieut. 
Wolstoncroft,  an  English  gentleman.  The  president  of  the  court  was 
Colonel  Henry  Burbeck.  He  had  been  a  pupil  of  Colonel  Gridley,  the 
engineer  of  the  American  army  at  Boston  in  1 776,  wiio  said  that  Washington 
was  his  model  in  politics,  Lieutenant  Colonel  Constant  Freeman,  an  officer 
of  merit  who  had  been  employed  on  the  boundar)-  line  between  the  Spanish 
Possessions  and  the  United  States,  and  his  lirother.  Captain  N.  Freeman,  a 
man  of  letters,  were  members,  as  also  was  Colonel  Jacob  Kingsbury,  a 
veteran   of  the   Revolutionary  War.      He  had  been   a  sergeant  in  the  Con- 


GENERAL  JOSEPH   GARDNER  SWIFT.  43 

necticut  line  at  the  seige  of  \'orkto\vn — a  fine  sample  of  modest  integrity 
and  common  sense.      At  our  mess  table  he  recounted  the  scenes  before 
"  York."      He  was  at  the  storming  of  the  redout  on  the  right,  under  Colonel 
Hamilton,  October,    1781.     Colonel  Kingsbury  remarked,  "I  was  leading 
my  squad  through   a   small   gap   in   the   abbatis,  and  was  coming  over  the 
parapet  when  something  struck  me  a  blow  on  the  head,  and  my  first  con- 
sciousness was  in  finding   mjself  extended   upon    the   platform    inside   the 
redout."     My  former  commander,  Major  William  McRea  of  Virginia,  who 
used   to   amuse   us   with   accounts  of  General    Kno.x,  the  then  Secretary  of 
War,  his  orders  and  notions  for  equipping  and  training  the  "sub  legions"  of 
General  Wayne's  army  ;  also  Captain  Stelle  of  the   artillery,  formerly  com- 
manding at  West  Point  —  he  was  from  New  Jersey  ;  Captain  McClelland 
from  Maryland,  and  Captain  John  Saunders,  an  eccentric  gentleman  from 
Virginia ;  Lieutenant  James  House  from  Baltimore,  a  native  of  Connecticut, 
a  gentleman  of  much  taste  and  an  artist  ;   also  my  friend   Lieutenant  Alex- 
ander Macomb,   full   of   frolic  and   fun,   an  accomplished  gentleman,   and 
Lieutenant  E.  Beebee  of  New  York.     There  was  also  Major  Thomas   H. 
Gushing,  the  adjutant  and  inspector  of  the   army,   a  gentleman   of    high 
intelligence   and  who,  under  the  orders  of  General  Wilkinson  prosecuted 
the  trial  of  Colonel  Butler.     In  December  the  court  terminated  its  proceed- 
ings.    No  other  consequence  of  an  historic  character  has  followed  this  trial 
save  the  perpetual  knot  hole    in   the   coffin   that  we   see   in   Washington 

o 

Irving's  Knickerbocker's  History  of  New  York,  through  which  hole  still 
protrudes  the  queue  of  Colonel  Tom  Buder  as  he  there  lays  in  his  shroud. 
The  officers  reciprocated  the  courtesy  of  Frederick  by  a  ball  and  supper 
given  at  .Mrs.  Kimball's,  arranged  with  much  and  peculiar  taste  by  the 
advice  of  Lieutenant  Macomb. 

On  23d  December  the  members  of  the  court  and  all  the  other  officers 
proceeded  to  Georgetown  and  to  the  war  office  in  Washington,  and  paid 
their  respects  to  General  Dearborn,  the  Secretary  of  War.  The  general 
mvited  me  to  dine  at  his  residence  in  Georgetown,  where  I  thanked  him 
for  the  trouble  he  had  taken  in  my  affair  with  Baron  at  West  Point  in  1801. 
The  secretary  said  that  no  injury  had  resulted  to  me,  although  he  could  not 


44  THE  MEMOIRS   OF 

approve  of  the  disrespect  that  I  had  been  excited  to  show  to  Mr.  Baron. 
On  my  taking  leave,  after  being  presented  to  Mr.  Jefferson,  the  secretary- 
said  that  he  should  require  my  services  in  the  ensuing  spring  to  repair  the 
fort  on  Cape  Fear,  North  Carolina,  and  also  said  that'  such  work  had  not 
been  previously  given  to  the  graduates  (three)  of  the  military  academy 
because  of  their  youthfulness  and  inexperience. 

The  subject  that  had  mostly  engrossed  conversation  in  the  past  year,  of  a 
public  nature,  was  Mr.  Jefferson's  purchase  of  Louisiana.  The  general  idea 
among  thinking  men  was  that  the  United  States,  already  large  enough, 
would  be  injured  by  extension,  but  the  people  will  hardly  be  restrained  from 
migrating  beyond  the  Mississippi.  It  was  therefore  wise  in  Mr.  Jefferson 
to  settle  as  far  as  possible  future  questions  by  peaceable  purchase,  trusting 
to  the  countr)'  to  remedy  any  constitutional  defect  in  what  the  Federalists 
deemed  to  be  a  dangerous  precedent.  The  alteration  in  the  Constitution 
in  the  mode  of  electing  a  President  was  by  the  Federalists  deemed  anything 
but  an  improvement,  nay,  that  it  was  a  breach  in  the  unity  of  that  almost 
sacred  instrument,  moreover  there  must  ever  be  more  than  two  men  in  the 
countr)'  at  least  equally  qualified  for  the  presidential  office.  The  change 
was  deemed  a  strong  measure  to  sustain  the  power  of  party  that  had 
already  become  proscriptive. 

1804.  By  leave  from  the  Secretary  of  War  the  remainder  of  the  winter 
was  passed  with  my  father's  only  brother,  Jonathan  Swift,  at  Alexandria, 
who  had  there  married  the  daughter  Ann  of  General  Daniel  Roberdeaii  of 
the  army  of  the  Revolution  and  of  the  Congress  of  1778  that  formed  the 
Confederation.  He  related  to  me  incidents  of  his  travels  in  England  and 
Ireland  in  the  years  1786-7  and  of  his  visit  to  the  country  of  our  ancestors 
at  Rotheram  in  Yorkshire,  and  to  some  distant  relatives  in  Dublin.  These 
friends  presented  him  a  portrait  of  Dean  Swift  and  .some  relics  of  that 
personage.  In  Alexandria,  by  the  introduction  of  my  uncle,  I  was  received 
courteously  by  Mr.  William  Fitzhugh  of  Chatham,  Mr.  William  Herbert, 
Mr.  John  Potts  and  his  beautiful  daughter  .Sophia,  and  also  by  the  Rosins 
of  Notley  Hall,  and  Addisons  of  Oxen  Hill  in  the  \icinit)'.  In  February 
my  first  visit  to   Congress  was  made.     The   jjrominent  topics  of  discussion 


GENERAL  JOSEPH  GARDNER  SWIFT.  45 

were  the  surplus  revenue,  as  to  what  could  be  done  with  it ;  and  here  came 
up  incidentally  or  accidentally,  views  of  improving  the  country  by  roads  and 
canals.  The  troubles  with  the  Barbary  powers  had  its  share  in  debate,  and 
also  a  scheme  to  widen  the  privileges  of  naturalization,  also  the  contem- 
plated impeachment  of  Samuel  Chase,  a  sound  judge  and  honest,  though 
of  violent  temper,  and  which  was  deemed  more  an  assault  upon  the  perma- 
nency of  the  judiciary  than  from  any  belief  in  the  malversation  of  that 
judge.  In  exploring  the  unfinished  capitol  I  found  the  portraits  of  Louis 
XVI.  and  Marie  Antoinette,  that  had  been  presented  by  that  king  to 
Congress  in  1779.  They  were  fine  specimens  of  art,  though  not  respect- 
fully treated,  for  they  were  suspended  in  a  committee  -  room  of  the  capitol. 
I  made  in  Washington  the  acquaintance  of  my  fellow  boarder,  Luther 
Martin,  Esquire,  and  heard  from  him  some  of  the  scenes  that  occurred  in 
the  Maryland  Convention,  of  which  he  was  a  member  at  the  time  of  the 
adoption  of  the  Constitution ;  and  also  with  General  William  Eaton,  the 
hero  of  Derne,  in  Africa,  who  grave  a  recital  of  his  efforts  in  that  useless 
expedition.  With  the  other  gentlemen  of  our  mess  we  partook  in  the  cele- 
bration of  the  birth  of  Washington,  at  Georgetown.  Had  also  the  honor  to 
dine  with  Mr.  Jefferson,  and  to  converse  with  the  Secretar)'  of  War  upon  his 
purpose  to  send  me  to  North  Carolina,  as  before  mentioned.  Early  in  March, 
in  company  with  Thomas  Cadwallader  of  Philadelphia,  proceeded  to  Frederick 
Town  and  passed  a  day,  and  thence  to  Lancaster,  in  Pennsylvania,  where 
Mr.  Cadwallader  introduced  me  to  the  speaker,  and  we  listened  to  some 
debates  in  the  halls  of  the  state,  and  then  we  departed  for  Philadelphia,  where 
we  arrived  on  the  9th.  The  next  day  made  a  jaunt  to  Germantown  to  see 
my  father's  friend,  Isaac  Roberdeau,  the  son  of  General  Roberdeau  before 
mentioned.  Found  him  and  his  young  family  at  his  father-in-law's.  Rev. 
Samuel  Blair.  Mr.  Roberdeau  had  been  employed  with  Andrew  Ellicott  in 
laying  out  the  city  of  Washington.  He  mentioned  the  interest  that  General 
Washington  took  in  this  work,  and  of  his  frequent  visits  from  Mount  Vernon 
on  horseback  to  look  at  the  progress  of  the  work,  and  also  at  the  plans  of 
Major  L'Enfent,  who  had  designed  a  very  extensive  elevation  for  the 
capitol.      It  was  his   purpose  to  give   the  building  a  front  of  six  hundred 


46  THE  MEMOIRS   OF 

feet,  enclosed  in  a  collonade  of  the  Corinthian  order,  the  columns  to  be 
one  hundred  and  ten  feet  in  altitude.  On  my  return  to  the  city  with 
Lieutenant  William  Wilson,  formerly  of  West  Point,  paid  our  respects  to 
the  disbanded  veteran  Tousard,  and  also  to  his  lady. 

From  Philadelphia  on  my  way  to  West  Point,  at  Elizabeth  Town  on  the 
14th  of  March,  had  the  pleasure  to  visit  my  friend  Colonel  Williams,  who 
resided  in  that  place.  He  introduced  me  to  Count  Reimsowitz,  the  poet, 
and  also  the  friend  of  Kosciusko,  and  found  him  a  very  interesting 
narrator  of  the  wrongs  of  Poland.  I  also  met  here  James  Ricketts,  Esq., 
a  Jamaica  planter.  His  residence  here  was  a  very  pleasant  and  hospitable 
mansion.  I  also  saw  Mr.  Bellasis  (Viscount  Bolinbroke,)  in  retirement 
from  England  for  some  scandalous  cause.     He  seemed  a  morose  man.     I 

o 

was  much  better  pleased  with  the  Rev.  Mr.  Kellock,  to  whom  the  colonel 
introduced  me,  and  who  is  an  able  Presbyterian  preacher.  From  the 
residence  of  Colonel  Williams,  and  in  company  with  Lieutenant  Macomb, 
rode  to  Belleville,  and  repeated  our  visit  to  Passaic  Falls,  and  also  to  his 
father,  Alexander  Macomb,  in  Broadway,  New  York.  This  gentleman  had 
been  a  very  extensive  merchant  in  Detroit.  He  mentioned  seeing  the  noted 
Daniel  Boone  a  prisoner  in  Detroit,  captured  by  some  mistake.  The 
governor  then  was  a  Colonel  Hamilton,  who  treated  Mr.  Boone  with  much 
kindness,  and  gave  him  an  order  on  Mr.  Macomb  for  any  merchandise  that 
Mr.  Boone  chose  to  take  home  to  his  family  in  Kentucky.  Mr.  Boone  was 
thankful  for  the  favor,  but  would  only  take  -a.  paper  of  pins  and  -d.  pound  oi 
tea  for  his  wife — a  characteristic  evidence  of  the  self  respect  of  Boone. 
The  last  of  the  month,  with  six  hundred  and  ninety-two  dollars  received 
from  Lieutenant  Charles  Wolstoncroft,  paymaster,  to  pay  the  cadets  at  the 
academy,  arrived  at  the  Point  in  season  to  be  reported  present  on  the 
monthly  rolls.  The  academy  was  opened  on  the  first  of  April,  under  the 
auspices  of  Professors  Barron  and  F"rancis  De  Masson.  The  latter  gen- 
tleman was  an  emigrant  from  PVance  and  St.  Domingo ;  lie  was  of  the 
Royal  School,  an  highly  educated  man.  His  father  had  been  president  of 
a  provincial  parliament;  had  sufferetl  Ijy  the  Revolution,  and  also  by  the 
insurrection  of  the  slaves  of  St.  Domingo. 


GENERAL  JOSEPH  GARDNER  SWIFT.  47 

Congress  had  appropriated  one  hundred  and  nine  thousand  dollars  for  the 
reparation  of  the  forts  in  the  current  year,  including  armories  and  arsenals. 

At  the  close  of  the  month  of  April  I  received  orders  from  the  War 
Department  to  repair  to  North  Carolina  and  examine  the  harbor  of  Cape 
Fear,  and  to  report  a  plan  of  defence  therefor,  and  also  to  direct  the 
execution  of  a  contract  with  General  Benjamin  Smith  of  Belvidere,  to 
construct  a  battery  at  the  site  of  old  Fort  Johnson,  in  Smithville,  of  a 
material  called  "  tapia."  Macomb  was  sent  to  Rocky  Mount  in  South 
Carolina,  Levy  to  Fort  Jackson,  in  Georgia,  and  W.  Amistead  to  Fort 
Nelson,  at  Norfolk. 

In  taking  leave  of  my  ahmx  mater.  Major  Wadsworth  being  the  superin- 
tendent, I  was  much  annoyed  by  my  liability  for  the  debt  of  Lieutenant 
Strong.  The  paymaster  had  been  authorized  to  advance  me  two  months' 
pay,  Avhich,  with  the  sale  of  books  and  my  watch,  enabled  me  to  discharge 
the  debt  and  relieve  my  endorser.  Major  George  Fleming — and  also  to 
retain  enough  to  defray  my  expenses  to  Wilmington.  The  veteran  major 
had  been  very  kind  to  stand  between  the  law  and  myself.  He  had  been 
an  officer  of  artillery,  and  was  at  the  surrender  of  Burgoyne  in  1777  ;  at  the 
present,  and  for  a  long  time  he  had  been  the  military  store-keeper  at  West 
Point,  and  he  abounded  in  reminiscences  of  the  war  of  '76,  and  especiall)- 
of  Saratoga  and  Yorktown  —  at  both  of  which  surrenders  he  had  been 
present,  a  conductor  of  ordnance.  He  had  been  selected  by  General 
Knoxwhen,  Secretary  of  War,  for  his  present  office  and  station. 

Among  my  associates  left  at  West  Point  was  Cadet  William  Gates.  He 
was  recovering  from  a  wound  recently  received  in  the  hand  by  a  wooden 
ramrod  discharged  from  a  fowling  piece.  In  the  absence  of  our  post 
surgeon  I  had  in  vain  rowed  to  Peekskill  to  seek  the  aid  of  Doctor  Strang. 
He  declined  the  trouble,  may  be  from  a  fear  that  he  might  not  easilj' 
recover  his  fee  from  the  United  States,  or  from  the  slender  means  of  a 
cadet.  By  the  time  of  my  return  Gates'  hand  had  become  extremel)- 
swollen.  He  bore  well  my  essay  and  successful  cutting  out  of  numerous 
splinters,  filling  the  cavity  with  lint  and  laudanum  from  the  hospital.  The 
hand  was   saved,   and   was   considered   a    fortunate    result,    though    it   was 


48  THE  MEMOIRS   OF 

disfigured    for   want    of  a    more    judicious    and  early    surgical    treatment. 

On  my  route  to  the  South  had  appointed  to  visit  my  former  chief,  Colonel 
Williams,  to  learn  what  had  been  his  views  of  the  works  needed  in  the 
harbor  of  Cape  Fear.  I  found  him  at  his  country  seat.  Mount  Pleasant, 
near  Philadelphia,  on  the  Schuylkill,  in  the  month  of  May.  The  colonel 
introduced  me  to  the  family  of  Mr.  Clement  Biddle,  formerly  quartermaster- 
general  of  Washington's  army ;  the  family  an  intellectual  group  living  in 
enviable  harmony.  And  I  also  renewed  my  acquaintance  with  Colonel 
Cadwallader.  Colonel  Williams  gave  me  letters  of  introduction  to  Joshua 
Grainger  Wright,  Esq.,  General  Benjamin  Smith  and  Mr.  John  Lord  — 
gentlemen  of  Wilmington,  North  Carolina.  The  remembrance  of  the 
disinterested  friendship  of  Colonel  Williams  forms  one  of  the  brightest 
reminiscences  of   my  life. 

I  made  a  visit  on  my  way  south  at  the  Indian  Queen,  in  Baltimore,  to 
pass  a  little  time  with  my  cousin  William  Roberdeau  Swift,  son  of  Jonathan. 
He  was  in  the  counting-house  of  William  Taylor,  for  whom  this  cousin,  as 
supercargo  of  the  Orozimbo  ("  India-man,")  made  a  large  amount  of  money. 
William  and  myself  revived  the  bygone  days  on  Taunton  Green,  and 
among  our  schoolmates  there.  His  memory  was  very  minute  and 
redundant.  At  the  Indian  Queen  I  was  the  fellow  boarder  of  General 
Arthur  St.  Clair,  who  honored  me  with  his  acquaintance,  and  gave  me  the 
story  of  his  unfortunate  battle  with  the  Indians  in  Ohio,  1791.  An 
impressive  dignity  distinguished  the  deportment  of  this  soldier,  and 
once  president  of  the  congress  of  the  United  States.  I  accompanied  the 
veteran  to  Washington,  whither,  he  went  to  revive  a  claim  for  money 
expended  by  him  in  the  war  of  the  Revolution,  to  meet  the  now  pressing 
necessities  of  age  and  poverty. 

The  last  of  May  I  reported  myself  to  General  Dearborn,  at  the  war  office 
in  Washington,  who  again  pre.sented  me  to  Mr.  Jefferson,  and  I  met  at  his 
table  the  Secretary  of  State,  Mr.  Madison,  and  other  public  officers.  The 
President  is  remarkable  for  his  urbanity  to  young  men.  An  observation 
of  his  is  that  "  Young  and  not  old  men  are  the  most  instructive  associates." 
True,  no  doubt,  in  reference  to  political  future  purposes.     At  this  (1806) 


GENERAL  JOSEPH   GARDNER   SWIFF. 


49 


dinner,  among  the  subjects  of  conversation  was  that  of  gun  boats.  The 
President  complacently  gave  me  an  opportunity  to  express  my  thoughts 
thereon,  and  with,  it  may  be,  the  vanity  and  candour  of  youth,  my  notions 
were  given  adversely  to  the  system.  This  uncourtly  opposition  to  a  favorite 
project  was  received  by  Mr.  Jefferson  in  a  kind  manner,  and  he  replied: 
"My  young  friend,  your  opinion  may  be  popular,  but  remember  that  in 
time  our  navy  may  cause  us  to  become  as  arrogant  upon  the  ocean  as  ever 
Britain  has  been.  True,  the  commercial  necessities  of  a  maritime  people 
make  a  navy  popular,  but  its  success  will  encourage  us  to  depart  from  the 
simplicity  of  our  institutions."  Mr.  Jefferson  jocosely  asked  me,  "To  which 
of  the  political  creeds  do  you  adhere  ?"  My  reply  was,  that  as  yet  I  had 
done  no  political  act,  but  that  my  family  were  Federalists.  Mr.  Jefferson 
rejoined:  "There  are  many  men  of  high  talent  and  integrity  in  that  party, 
but  it  is  not  the  rising  power"  :  a  hint  that  was  lost  on  me,  though  General 
Dearborn  reminded  me  of  it  in  a  short  period  thereafter.  The  style  of  Mr. 
Jefferson's  dinners  is  truly  tasteful,  and  the  conversation  as  free  as  is  con- 
sistent with  the  respect  due  to  a  chief  magistrate. 

By  leave  of  General  Dearborn  I  sojourned  a  few  days  on  my  route  at 
Alexandria,  where,  meeting  Mrs.  Lewis  at  Mr.  Potts',  I  was  invited  by  that 
lady  to  make  a  pilgrimage  to  the  tomb  of  her  deceased  connection,  General 
Washington.  Mrs.  Lewis  presented  me  a  relic  of  the  general,  and  gave 
me  many  anecdotes  of  his  life,  and  presented  me  a  button  from  the  coat 
that  he  wore  in  "  Braddock's  defeat"  in  1755.  It  was  embossed  yellow 
metal  marked  "56th  Reg'."  I  long  used  this  as  a  letter  seal.  The  Medi- 
terranean squadron,  consisting  of  the  frigates  Congress,  Essex,  and  other 
vessels,  was  at  this  time  at  anchor  in  the  Potomac  opposite  Alexandria, 
under  orders  to  coerce  Tripoli  to  justice.  The  officers  of  the  squadron 
enjoyed  the  hospitable  coutesy  of  the  Alexandrians,  and  at  the  adjacent 
seats  of  Notley  Hall  and  Oxen  Hill.  On  this  occasion  I  made  the 
acquaintance  of  Mr.  Tunis  Craven  at  these  parties  — a  remarkably 
handsome  man.  He  was  an  agent  in  the  navy  department.  1  also 
met  here  Captain  John  Heth  of  Richmond,  and  of  the  United  States 
army.     On  the   12th  June  proceeded  with  him  to  that  capital  of  Virginia. 


50  THE  MEMOIRS   OF 

where  he  introduced  me  to  his  relative,  Chief  Justice  Marshall,  commonly 
called  General  Marshall  in  Richmond.  His  manner  is  among  the  most 
bland,  unaffected,  and  conciliating  of  any  that  I  have  met.  Knowing  that 
he  had  been  a  captain  in  the  Virginia  line  at'  the  battle  of  Monmouth,  I 
asked  him  of  the  conduct  of  General  Charles  Lee  on  that  day.  General 
Marshall  replied  that  Lee's  conduct  on  that  oppressively  hot  day  was  not 
failing  in  intrepedity,  nor  in  external  personal  respect  to  General  Wash- 
ington. His  vanity  had  led  him  into  error,  and  he  was  too  proud  to 
acknowledge  it.  I  inquired  of  the  rumor  of  profane  language  used  on 
that  occasion.  General  Marshall  said  the  rumor  was  not  true,  though 
severe  language  was  used — not  disrespectful.  General  Marshall  said  he 
was  an  accomplice  of  Miflin,  Gates,  Lovel,  Rust,  Conway  and  others  in  the 
celebrated  conspiracy,  but  was  not  a  secret  but  open  foe.  Gates  left  a 
record  of  his  infamy  which,  with  Washington's  original  scathing  letter  to 
Gates,  I  saw  in  the  hands  of  the  worthy  John  Pintard,  secretary  of  an 
insurance  company  in  Wall  Street,  New  York  —  who  had  a  view  of  all 
the  MSS.  left  by  Gates. 

In  prosecuting  my  journey  to  North  Carolina  1  had  the  pleasure  to 
accompany  General  Marshall  to  Raleigh,  where  the  United  States  Supreme 
Court  was  to  hold  a  session.  The  chief  justice  is  sometimes  an  "absent 
man."  As  an  instance,  he  came-on  this  occasion  from  home  in  a  dark  blue 
silk  dress  without  an  overcoat.  It  gave  me  pleasure  to  take  from  my  trunk 
and  lend  him  a  new  blue  cloth  cloak,  that  my  father  had  given  me,  the 
stage  ride  being  on  a  chilly  morning.  On  our  arrival  at  High  Towers 
Tavern,  near  the  borders  of  the  State,  the  general  made  a  mint  julep  for 
our  refreshment,  the  first  of  those  drams  that  I  ever  saw.  The  jaunt  to 
Raleigh  was  to  me  agreeable  and  instructive,  the  affability  of  the  general 
favoring  me  with  many  items  of  the  close  of  Mr.  Adams'  administration, 
of  whom  the  general  spoke  in  high  personal  respect;  but  he  disapproved 
of  the  rupture  in  the  Cabinet  to  which  Mr.  Adams  had  assented,  debilitating 
the  power  of  those  who  had  elected  him  and  strengthening  the  influence  of 
Mr.  Jefferson's  partisans.  In  taking  leave  of  this  gentleman  he  gave  me  a 
warm   invitation   to  visit  him   in   Richmond,   and   which   I   hope  to  do. 


GENERAL  JOSEPH   GARDNER  SWIFT.  5  I 

Arriving  in  the  middle  of  June  at  Fayetteville,  I  met  there  Nicholas 
Tillinghast  of  Taunton  Green,  my  schoolmate.  He  had  come  from  the 
manufactories  in  Pawtucket,  R.  I.,  as  their  agent,  and  we  revived  the 
memory  of  our  school  days.  Proceeding  by  the  right  bank  of  the  Cape 
Fear  River  to  Negro  Head  Point  ferry,  opposite  Wilmington,  I  arrived  at 
Mrs.  Meek's  boarding  house  in  that  town  on  the  anniversary  of  the  battle 
of  Bunker  Hill,  and  on  that  day  reported  myself  by  letter  to  my  chief. 
Major  Wadsworth  at  West  Point,  using  the  day  and  1775  as  the  figurative 
date  of  my  letter  by  way  of  friendly  memento.  After  presenting  my  letter 
of  introduction  I  took  the  packet  for  Fort  Johnston,  and  there  paid  my 
respects  to  the  commandant  of  the  post.  Lieutenant  John  Fergus,  an  uncle 
of  Cadet  McRee,  and  commenced  a  happy  acquaintance  with  the  surgeon 
of  the  post,  John  Lightfoot  Griffin,  and  with  whom  established  our  quarters 
at  Mrs.  Ann  McDonald's.  Here  I  also  met  General  Benjamin  Smith,  and 
to  the  last  of  the  month  had  conferences  with  him  as  to  the  best  mode  of 
executing  his  contract  with  the  war  department  in  the  construction  of  a 
battery  on  the  site  of  the  old  Fort  Johnston,  Smithville. 

Early  in  July  I  employed  Mr.  Wilson  Davis,  one  of  the  most  intelligent 
of  the  pilots,  and  with  his  aid  I  sounded  the  entrance  over  the  main  bar 
of  shifting  sand  into  the  harbor  of  Cape  Fear,  and  also  the  entrance  at  the 
new  inlet,  and  then  viewed  the  capacity  of  the  anchorage  within,  together 
with  the  relative  position  of  the  several  points  of  land  near  the  entrances, 
of  which  I  made  a  plot,  and  upon  which  I  based  my  report  of  26th  July  to 
the  Secretary  of  War.  The  substance  of  this  report  was  that  the  main  objects 
to  be  secured  were  those  that  had  been  set  forth  by  my  late  chief.  Colonel 
Williams,  to  wit:  to  cover  an  anchorage  in  the  harbor  and  to  command  its 
entrance  by  a  small  enclosed  work  on  Oak  Island,  and  an  enclosed  battery 
at  Federal  Point,  at  the  new  inlet,  and  also  to  complete  the  battery  of 
tapia  at  the  site  of  old  Fort  Johnston,  the  last  being  contracted  for  by 
General  B.  Smith.  Pending  the  decision  of  the  war  department  upon  this 
report,  much  of  the  summer  was  a  leisure  among  agreeable  families  from 
Wilmington,  that  passed  the  warm  season  in  slight  frame  houses  at  "The 
Fort,"  as  the  village  of  Smithville  is  called.     Among  these  was  the  family 


52  THE  MEMOIRS   OF 

of  Captain  James  Walker,  to  whose  daughter  Louisa  and  her  cousin  Eliza 
Younger,  I  was  introduced  at  a  dinner  given  to  Dr.  Griffin  and  myself  by 
Captain  Walker.  There  were  the  families  of  Mr.  John  Lord  and  of  the 
founder  of  the  place,  Mr.  John  Potts,  and  of  General  Benjamin  Smith,  who 
was  to  construct  the  public  work  under  a  contract,  and  of  Captain  Callender, 
the  surveyor  of  the  port,  who  had  been  an  officer  of  the  army  in  the  war  of 
the  Revolution,  etc.  General  Smith  became  the  governor  of  the  State. 
He  owned  a  large  extent  of  jjroperty  on  Cape  Fear  River,  and  was  of  the 
family  of  Landgrave  Thomas  Smith,  the  colonial  governor  of  South 
Carolina  in  the  preceding  centur)'.  He  had  become  security  for  the 
collector  of  the  port  of  Wilmington,  who  was  a  defaulter  to  the  govern- 
ment, and  it  was  to  discharge  this  liability  that  General  Smith  had 
contracted  to  l)uild  the  "tapia"  work  at  "The  Fort."  His  lady,  Mrs. 
Sarah  Y>ry  Smith,  was  highly  accomplished,  and  was  an  hospitable 
friend  to  Dr.  Griffin  and  myself,  and  one  of  the  finest  characters  in  the 
country.  She  was  the  daughter  and  heiress  of  Colonel  William  Dry, 
the  former  collector  in  the  colonial  time,  and  was  also  of  the  king's  council. 
This  lady  was  also  a  direct  descendant  from  Cromwell's  admiral,  Robert 
Blake.  There  was  also  residing  at  "The  Fort"  the  family  of  Benjamin 
Blaney.  A  native  he  was  of  Ro.xbury.  near  Boston.  He  had  migrated 
to  Carolina  as  a  carpenter,  and  had  by  industry  acquired  a  competence 
to  enable  him  to  dispense  aid  to  the  sick  and  needy  and  other  charities, 
in  the  performance  of  which  he  was  an  example  of  usefulness  and  charity, 
and  unostentation.  Most  of  the  families  at  the  fort  were  Federalists,  and 
though  all  deplored  the  event,  they  were  the  more  sensibly  impressed  with 
the  news  of  the  death  of  Alexander  Hamilton,  who  in  this  month  of  July 
had  been  slain  in  a  duel  with  Colonel  Burr,  the  account  of  which  had  been 
written  to  me  by  Colonel  Williams.  The  whole  Union  was  in  a  measure 
moved  to  grief  by  this  sad  event.  Colonel  Hamilton  occupied  a  large 
space  in  the  public  mind.  He  had  been  the  able  leader  of  Federalism  —  a 
class  of  men  who  may  in  truth  be  said  to  have  been  actuated  by  far  higher 
motives  than  those  of  mere  party. 

My  advices  from  West  Point  were  that  Major  Wadsworth,  Captain  W.  A. 


GENERAL  JOSEPH   GARDNER  SWIFT.  53 

Barron  and  Mr.  De  Masson  formed  the  academic  corps ;  that  Lieutenant 
Wilson  was  on  duty  at  Fort  Miflin,  Lieutenant  Macomb  in  South  Carolina, 
and  Lieutenant  Armistead  in  New  York. 

In  my  excursions  on  the  waters  of  Cape  Fear  I  was  aided  by  Captain 
Walker,  Dr.  Griffin  and  Mr.  Blaney,  who  as  sportsmen  were  familiar  with 
the  numerous  shoals  and  channels  and  anchorages  thereof,  so  that  the 
returns  were  not  only  in  game,  but  also  in  giving  me  knowledge  of  the 
capacity  of  this  harbor,  situate  as  it  is  on  one  of  the  most  shallow  and 
troublesome  coasts  to  navigators.  The  anchorage,  covered  from  the  ocean 
by  Bald  Head,  or  Smith's  Island,  extending  from  the  main  bar  to  the  new 
inlet,  and  upon  which  island  there  is  a  growth  of  live  oak  and  palmetto, 
and  abounding  with  fallow  deer. 

Intimacy  with  Mr.  Walker  furnished  me  with  many  items  of  the  war  in 
Carolina,  with  which  he  was  familiar,  although  not  partaking  of  the  battles, 
for  he   had   been   a   moderate  Tory,  adverse   to  taking  arms  against   the 
mother  country,  in  which  his  friend  and  brother-in-law,  Louis  De  Rosset, 
had  influenced  him.     Mr.  De  Rosset  was  of  the  king's  council.     Mr.  Walker 
had  been  the  executor  of  General  James  Moor,  the  planner  and  director  of 
the  American  force  at  the  battle  of  Moor's  Creek,  fought  by  Lillington  and 
Shingsley.      From  the -papers  of   that  officer  he  had   gathered   many  an 
anecdote  of  the  march  of  Cornwallis.     Mr.  Walker  had  been   in  the  reo-u- 
lating  war  of    1770,   and   then   commanded   a  company   in   the  battle   of 
Allamance,  in  the  western  part  of  the  state.      He  was  cured  of  much  of 
his  Toryism  by  the  tyrannical  conduct  of   Major  J.   H.  Craig,  the  British 
governor  at    Wilmington,  afterwards  governor-general  of    Canada.      The 
conduct  of  this  man  had  been  oppressive  and  needlessly  cruel  to  the  people 
of  Wilmington,  and  Capt.  Walker  had  been  able  to  influence  some  relief 
to  those  who  were  in  arrest,  etc.     He  with  his  brother-in-law,  John  Du  Bois, 
had  been  appointed  commissioners  to  arrange  the  cartel  of  prisoners,  and 
to  negotiate  for  the  families  who  were  to  leave  Wilmington  therein  when 
Cornwallis   marched   to  Virginia,   thus   showing  the  confidence    that  both 
Whig  and  Tory  had  reposed  in  those  gentlemen.     Mr.  Walker's  family  were 
of  the  settlers  called  "  Retainers,"  coming  from  Ireland  under  the  auspices 


54  THE  MEMOIRS   OF 

of  Colonel  Sampson,  and  of  his  father,  Robert  Walker.  Among  the 
families  of  these  "Retainers"  were  those  of  the  Holmes,  Owens,  and 
Kernans,  etc.,  now  become  independent  planters  and  distinguished  citizens. 
The  father  of  Capt.  Walker,  the  above  Robert,  was  of  the  same  family  with 
that  of  the  Protestant  hero,  the  Rev.  George  Walker  of  Londonderry.  The 
mother  of  Capt.  Walker  was  Ann,  of  the  family  of  Montgomery,  of  Mount 
Alexander  in  Ireland,  and  had  made  a  runaway  match  with  Robert  Walker. 
Capt.  James  Walker  married  Magdalen  M.  Du  Bois,  the  daughter  of  John 
Du  Bois  and  Gabriella  De  Rosset,  his  wife. 

In  the  month  of  September,  in  reply  to  my  report  of  26th  July,  I 
received  orders  from  the  war  department  to  proceed  with  so  much  of  the 
work  therein  contemplated  as  was  embraced  by  General  Smith's  contract 
upon  the  tapia  work  at  the  site  of  old  Fort  Johnston,  that  had  been  there 
constructed  by  the  then  colonial  Governor  Johnston  from  South  Carolina, 
Anno  1740.  In  clearing  away  the  sand  I  found  much  of  the  tapia  walls 
then  erected  finer  in  their  whole  length,  on  a  front  of  the  ordinary  half 
bastian  flanks  and  curtain  of  two  hundred  and  forty  feet  extent,  far  superior 
to  our  contemplated  plan  for  the  battery  of  tapia. 

Soon  after  this  the  slaves  of  General  Smith  commenced  the  burning  of 
lime  in  pens,  called  kilns,  formed  of  sapling  pines  formed  in  squares  con- 
taining from  one  thousand  to  one  thousand  two  hundred  bushels  of  oyster 
shells  (alive)  collected  in  scows  from  the  shoals  in  the  harbor — there 
abundant.  These  pens  were  filled  with  alternate  layers  of  shells  and 
"light  wood"  from  pitch  pine,  and  thus  were  burned  in  about  one  day — 
very  much  to  the  annoyance  of  the  neighborhood  by  the  smoke  and  vapor 
of  burning  shellfish,  wlien  the  wind  was  strong  enough  to  spread  the  fumes 
of  the  kilns.  In  the  succeeding  month  of  November  I  commenced  the 
battery  by  constructing  boxes  of  the  dimensions  of  the  parapet,  six  feet 
high  by  seven  in  thickness,  into  which  boxes  was  poured  the  tapia  compo- 
sition, consisting  of  ecjual  parts  of  lime,  raw  shells  and  sand,  and  water 
sufficient  to  form  a  species  of  paste,  or  batter,  as  the  negroes  term  it. 

At  the  close  of  this  month  of  November  a  large  Spanish  ship  called  the 
"Bilboa"  was  cast  away  on  Cape  Fear  in  a  storm.     It  was  alleged  by  the 


GENERAL  JOSEPH  GARDNER  SWIFT.  55 

crew,  who  were  brought  by  pilot  Davis  to  my  quarters,  that  the  ship  was 
laden  with  sugar,  and  that  there  was  much  specie  in  "the  run;"  that  the 
captain  and  mate  had  died  at  sea,  and  that  having  no  navigator  on  board 
they  had  put  the  ship  before  the  wind  and  run  her  on  shore  near  the  Cape. 
There  were  twenty-one  in  this  crew,  a  villainous  looking  set  of  rascals,  that 
I  had  no  doubt  they  were.     Lieutenant  Fergus  detained  them  in  the  block- 
house at  the  fort  until  the  collector  sent  inspectors  to  conduct  the  crew  to 
Charleston,  where  the  ship  was  known  to  some  merchant.   These  men  all  had 
more  or  less  of  dollars  in  their  red  woolen  sashes  tied  around  their  waists. 
On  their  arrival  in  Charleston  they  were  detained  .some  time,  but  no  proof 
could  be  found  against  them,  and  they  went  free.     The  pilots  and  others 
were  for  some  time  after  this  exploring  the  remains  of  the  wreck,  but  there 
was  no  valuable  found  among  the  drift  save  spars  and  rigging. 

In  the  previous  month  of  September  Alexander  C^Hzance   Miller  was 
introduced  to  Mrs.  General  Smith,   Dr.   Griffin  and  myself  and  others  by 
John   Bradley.   Esquire,  of  Wilmington.      Mr.   Miller  was  an  accomplished 
gentleman -especially  so  in  music  and  drawing.     He  interested  us  much 
m  his  history.      He  stated  to  us  that  he  had  escaped  from  France  in  the 
year   1797  ;  was  a  cadet  in  the  family  of  De  la  Marche;  had  been  a  mere 
boy  in  the  corps  of  Conde  at  the  battle  of  Dusseldorf ;   made  his  escape  to 
America   from   Rotterdam  by  the  aid  of  the   master  of  the   ship.  Captain 
Miller,  whose  name  he  bore,  and  arrived  in  Philadelphia,  where  he  earned 
his  bread  by  teaching  the  piano  and  violin,  and  drawing.      He  is  of  remark- 
able personal  beauty  and  elegance  of  manner,  and  Dr.  Griffin  and  myself 
became  very  intimate  with  him.     This  friend  of  mine,  Dr.  Griffin,  was  from 
Virginia,  near  Yorktown.     His  mother  was  of  the  Lightfoot  family,  and  his 
uncle  was  Cyrus  Griffin,  the  United  States  district  judge.     His  father  and 
mother  both  died   in   his   infancy,  and   his   cousin  Thomas,  a  member  of 
Congress,  had  procured  for  him  the  appointment  of  surgeon  in  the  army, 
the  duties  of  which  office  he  was  now  discharging  at  Fort  Johnston. 

1805.  In  January,  by  order  of  General  Wilkinson,  I  relieved  Lieutenant 
Fergus  in  the  command  of  Fort  Johnston.  There  having  been  a  contra- 
riety in  opinion  at  the  war  department  whether  the  commander  of  the  army. 


56  Tim  ^MEMOIRS   OF 

had  authority  to  place  an  engineer  ofificer  in  command  of  a  post  and  troops, 
except  by  the  especial  order  of  the  president.  This  act  of  General  Wilkin- 
son's was  as  well  a  convenience  to  the  service  as  a  test  to  decide,  so  far,  the 
question  of  his  authority  under  the  law  of  March,  1802.  To  which  arrange- 
ment the  Secretary  of  War  consented,  and  the  function  of  my  command,  with 
a  detachment  of  a  company  of  artillery,  remained  until  the  following  year, 
when,  by  my  request  I  was  relieved  from  that  command.  A  memorial 
in  reference  to  this  question  was  presented  to  the  President  of  the  United 
States,  and  a  request  to  have  the  opinion  settled  by  law  in  December,  1804, 
by  the  officers  of  engineers  then  for  the  time  at  West  Point,  viz. :  Major 
Wadsworth,  Captain  Barron,  Lieutenants  Wilson,  Macomb  and  Armistead, 
of  which  Macomb  sent  me  a  transcript.  The  question  was  so  far  settled  in 
the  following  year,  1805,  and  Colonel  Williams  was  recommissioned  then, 
and  resumed  command  of  the  corps  of  engineers. 

This  winter  I  became  engaged  to  Miss  Walker.  The  season  raif  by 
charmingly  at  "The  Barn,"  Mr.  Walker's  residence  in  Wilmington,  and 
at  Belvidere,  the  residence  of  General  and  Mrs.  Smith,  and  at  Fort 
Johnston.  This  engagement  gave,  of  course,  new  prospects  of  life,  and  as 
is  usual,  my  wishes  gave  them  many  agreeable  hues.  I  had  stated  to  Mr. 
and  Mrs.  Walker  that  my  chief  dependence  was  my  profession.  Mr. 
Walker  .said  he  could  not  subdivide  his  property  during  his  life ;  that  he 
approved  of  the  marriage,  and  should  do  all  he  could  to  promote  the 
interests  of  his  children. 

In  the  month  of  March  Colonel  Tathem,  of  Virginia,  arrived  at  the  fort, 
bringing  a  collection  of  surveying  and  levelling  instruments,  and  an  highly 
finished  sextant,  to  commence  by  determining  the  longitude  of  the  fort. 
He  presented  himself  to  me,  and  described  his  services  in  Virginia  as  a 
partizan  officer  in  the  Revolutionary  war.  His  demeanor  evinced  an  erratic 
mind;  I,  however,  promoted  his  wishes,  and  he  commenced  to  establish  the 
elevation  of  the  block-house  above  the  level  of  tide  water,  and  extended  a 
line  of  levels  toward  the  ponds  near  Brun.swick.  At  this  juncture  Captain 
Coles  and  party  arrived  to  prosecute  a  survey  of  the  coast  of  North 
Carolina  by  order  of  the  United  States  navy  department,  and  commenced 


GENERAL  JOSEPH  GARDNER  SWIFT.  57 

observations  to  determine  the  longitude  of  the  light-house  on  Bald  Head. 
This  operation  disturbed  Colonel  Tathem,  who  "boxed  his  instruments" 
and  departed.  Probably  the  colonel  had  learned  at  Washington  City  of  the 
purposes  of  the  navy  department,  and  had  come  to  the  coast  with  some 
vague  ambition  for  precedence  of  knowledge. 

A  recent  law  of  Congress  having  reference  to  the  interdicting  the  ports 
on  our  coast  to  any  vessels  that  had  been  sailed  with  predatory  purposes, 
had  awakened  some  inquiry  about  the  condition  of  the  fortifications.  Con- 
gress added  twenty-four  thousand  dollars  to  the  previous  appropriation  of 
one  hundred  and  nine  thousand,  and  also  sixty  thousand  dollars  for  Mr. 
Jefferson's  gun  boat  project.  Little,  however,  was  attempted  beyond  the 
ordinary  duty  of  "garrison  fatigues"  to  dress  the  parapets  of  the  decaying 
works  of  defense  in  the  harbors  along  the  coast  of  the  Atlantic.  On  the 
20th  of  March  I  received  a  package  of  books  that  I  had  left  with  Lieu- 
tenant Wolstoncroft  at  Fort  Jay,  N.  Y.  They  came  through  J.  S.  Bee, 
Esquire,  of  Charleston,  S.  C.  Wolstoncroft  had,  however,  returned  my 
Works  of  Hogarth,  contrary  to  my  request. 

In  April  the  Secretary  of  War  sent  me  a  modified  contract  that  had  been 
proposed  to  him  by  General  Smith,  for  his  more  convenient  discharge  of 
the  bond  of  Colonel  Reed,  to  which  my  reply  was  that  it  would  delay  the 
construction  of  the  tapia  walls,  and  so  it  proved,  for  there  was  a  suspension 
of  the  collection  of  shells  and  lime-burning,  and  the  workmen  departed 
with  their  implements,  leaving  me  to  await  the  conclusion  of  the  nego- 
tiation between  the  War  Department  and  the  contractor. 

On  5th  May,  to  test  the  capacity  of  the  channel-way  into  the  harbor,  I 
went  to  sea  over  the  main  bar  in  the  Swedish  ship  "  Louisa,"  Captain 
Asmus,  loaded  with  ton  timber,  and  drawing  eighteen  and  one-third  feet  of 
water;  thus  establishing  the  facts  set  forth  in  my  report  of  26th  July  in  the 
preceding  year  to  the  Secretary  of  War  on  that  subject  —  returning  to 
the  Fort  in  the  revenue  cutter  that  had,  at  my  request,  accompanied 
the    ship    to    sea. 

On  3d  June  Dr.  Griffin,  Mr.  Miller  and  myself  went  to  Wilmington  in  the 
revenue  cutter,  and  on  Thursday,  6th  June,  1805,  Miss  Walker  and  myself 


58  THE  MEMOIRS   OF 

were  married  at  her  father's  residence,  "The  Barn,"  by  the  Hon.  John  Hill, 
he  using  the  Episcopal  service,  and  was  selected  by  me  for  that  office 
because  of  his  friendly  relations  to  my  father — they  having  been  class- 
mates at  Master  Lovel's  school  in  Boston  in  1775.  This  resort  to  a 
magistrate  was  made  in  consequence  of  the  low  estimate  by  Mr.  Walker 
of  the  character  of  the  then  Rector  of  St.  James,  in  Wilmington.  The 
bride's  attendants  on  this  occasion  were  Eliza  Younger,  Cecilia  Osborne, 
and  Maria  Swann;  mine  were  Dr.  Griffin,  Mr.  Miller,  George  Burgwin,  in 
lieu  of  his  brother,  John  Fanning,  accidentally  absent. 

In  the  following  week  Mrs.  General  .Smith  gave  an  entertainment  in 
honor  of  the  marriage,  at  the  town  residence  of  the  general.  The  hilarity 
of  this  party  was  temporarily  intercepted  by  a  letter  and  challenge  from 
Captain  Maurice  Moor  to  General  Smith,  who  called  me  to  his  office  to 
arrange  the  affair  with  the  friend  of  Mr.  Moor — Captain  Grange.  On  22d 
of  the  month  John  Fanning  Burgwin,  Esquire,  gave  us  a  wedding  fete  at 
the  Hermitage,  in  a  party  of  about  one  hundred  persons,  that  continued  for 
two  days.  On  that  same  day  I  received  my  notice  of  promotion  to  the  rank 
of  first  lieutenant  of  engineers,  and  also  advices  from  Colonel  Williams  of 
the  promotion  of  others  of  my  brother  officers,  and  of  the  appointment  of 
several  cadets  at  the  Military  Academy,  and  that  there  was  some  prospect 
of  his  return  to  the  corps. 

On  the  anniversary  of  the  battle  of  Fort  Moultrie,  in  South  Carolina,  28th 
June,  the  meeting  of  General  Smith  and  Captain  Moor  took  place  in  South 
Carolina,  not  far  from  the  .sea  side,  where  stands  the  Boundary  House  of  the 
two  states,  the  line  running  through  the  centre  of  the  hall  of  entrance,  where 
was  held  a  parley  with  some  North  Carolina  officers  sent  in  pursuit  —  our 
party  occupying  the  south  side  of  the  line  in  the  hall,  and  thus  beyond  their 
jurisdiction.  Captain  Moor  was  attended  now  by  his  cousin.  Major  Duncan 
Moor;  General  Smith  by  my.self  and  Dr.  Andrew  Scott,  the  surgeon  of 
both.  At  the  st.'cond  fire  General  Smith  received  his  antagonist's  ball  in 
his  side  and  fell.  The  surgeons,  Drs.  Scott  and  Griffin,  conveyed  the 
general  to  Smithville  by  water,  while  I  hastened  to  Belvidere,  and,  in  a  chair 
conveyed  Mrs.  Smith  in  the  night  to  the  Fort,  through  one  of  those  storms 


GENERAL  JOSEPH  GARDNER  SWIFT.  59 

of  lightning  and  rain  that  often  rage  in  Carolina  summers.  On  this 
occasion  the  lightning  destroyed  two  trees,  one  on  either  side  of  the  road, 
apparently  at  one  flash,  and  for  a  moment  blinding  us;  but  the  anxiety  of 
the  wife  was  superior  to  the  alarm,  and  the  lady  found  her  husband  quite 
cheerful  at  the  Fort,  with  the  ball  lodged  near  the  left  shoulder  blade.  The 
party  proceeded  to  Wilmington,  where  the  General  recovered  after  a  few 
weeks'  confinement.  Family  rancour  between  these  cousins  was  the  cause 
of  the  duel. 

The  4th  of  July  was  celebrated  this  year  at  "The  Barn"  by  Mr.  Walker's 
inviting  my  friends  to  a  dinner  given  by  him  for  the  occasion,  and  where  I 
formed   the  acquaintance   of  William   Gaston,   Esquire,   of  Newbern,  and 
John   Haj^ard  of  Raleigh.     In   the    following  week,   on   8th,   the   family 
moved  to  the  summer  residence  at  the  Fort,  and  renewed  our  fishing  and 
other  sports  of  the  season.     On  12th  of  the  month  I  was  summoned  to  the 
death-bed  of  our  surgeon.  Dr.  Griffin,  at  Wilmington,  where  he  had  been 
attending  the  wound  of  General  Smith.     The  doctor  died  of  yellow  fever, 
and  in  the  act  of  repeating  the  death  scene  of  Shakspeare's  Julius  Caesar. 
In   his  lucid   moments   he   pronounced   his   case   mortal,   and   asked  to  be 
buried  in  Mrs.  General  Smith's  flower  garden  at  Smithville.     This  lady  had 
been  as  kindly  attentive  to  both  the  doctor  and  myself  as  if  she  had  been 
our  parent.     To  Mrs.  Smith  the  doctor  bequeathed  his  portrait  that  had 
been  drawn  by  our  friend  Mr.  Miller.     Mrs.  Smith  adopted  a  daughter  of 
the    doctor's,  and    educated    the    child   until   its  early  death  — a  daughter 
named  Mary  Ann.     Her  remains  were  placed  beside  those  of  her  father 
in  Mrs.  Smith's  garden  at  Smithville.     The  doctor  left  me  his  horse,  sword, 
pistols,  watch  and   librar)-.      He  was  a  young  man  of  genius  and  a  faithful 
friend.     In   a   few   days  after    this   mournful   scene   in   Wilmington    I   was 
assailed  by  the  same  type  of  fever,  and  by  the  care  of  Dr.  De  Rosset  was 
conveyed  to   sea  air  at  the   Fort,  but  did  not  regain  my  health  until  the 
following    September,    when,    by    authority    of    the    Secretary    of    War,    I 
employed   Doctor  R.  Everett  as  surgeon   for  the  port  at  Fort  Johnston, 
and  by  the  same  authority  a  hospital  was  commenced  there,  which  not  only 
served  for  the  garrison  but  also  received  many  a  sailor  from  the  European 


6o  THE  MEMOIRS   OF 

ships  that  carried  the  ton  timber  of  North  Carohna  to  the  dock  yards 
of  England. 

Before  leaving  West  Point  in  1804  I  had  in  casual  conversation  with 
my  brother  officers,  mentioned  my  having  seen  Colonel  Burr  at  Mr. 
Denning's,  at  Beverly,  in  1803,  and  of  his  conversation  with  Mr.  Denning 
about  the  American  provinces  of  Spain  —  Mexico,  Florida,  etc.  —  and  that 
probably  Mr.  Jefferson's  purchase  of  Louisiana  might  be  extended  over 
these  provinces.  By  some  means,  unknown  to  me,  this  occasioned  a  query 
to  be  put  to  me  from  Washington,  whether  Colonel  Burr  had  at  any  time 
remarked  to  me  anything  in  reference  to  colonizing  or  other  movement 
to  the  West.  My  reply  was  that  he  had  not ;  and  I  said  that  at  my  only 
interview  with  him  at  Beverly,  in  1803,  the  only  remark  made  to  me  was  of 
the  season  and  weather.  In  the  current  summer  and  fall  it  was  common 
to  hear  speculations  about  Colonel  Burr  and  his  friends  having  objects 
in  the  West — that  were  known  to  Mr.  Jefferson  —  reminding  me  of  the 
foregoing  facts. 

In  November  moved  from  my  post  quarters  to  the  Bay  Street  house  of 
Captain  Walker — that  had  been  prepared  for  his  family  residence  at  the 
Fort  —  for  my  winter  quarters.  In  December  I  received  a  request  from  the 
Secretary  of  War  to  examine  the  live  oak  and  other  growths  on  Bald  Head 
Island,  to  ascertain  the  expense  of  delivering  the  timber  to  the  government 
by  contract.  Lieutenant  Botts  of  the  revenue  cutter  and  myself  explored 
the  whole  Island,  east  and  west  of  "Flora's  Blufl,"  and  estimated  that  there 
were.then  standing  at  least  twenty  thousand  live  oak,  sixteen  thousand  cedar 
and  twelve  thousand  palmetto  trees;  and  we  found  that  the  expense  for 
furnishing  live  oak  by  contract  would  be  one  dollar  per  cubic  foot  delivered 
on  board  of  a  United  States  vessel  in  Cape  Fear  River,  and  reported  the 
same  to  the  Secretary  of  War:  palmetto  and  cedar  at  half  that  price. 

1806.  This  winter,  at  the  Fort,  we  received .  much  company  from  Wil- 
mington and  Charleston,  S.  C.  by  the  packet  of  Captain  McYlhenny,  a 
favorite  ship-master  of  that  name.  We  were  sometimes  obliged  to  borrow 
bedding  from  my  friend  Benjamin  Blaney,  and  sometimes  borrowed  sheep- 
skins from  the  public  stores,  for  the  gentlemen's  beds,  while  veni.son  and 


GENERAL  JOSEPH  GARDNER  SWIFT.  6 1 

wild  turkeys  were  abundant  from  the  woods  in  the  vicinity,  and  my  waiter, 
Riley,  was  an  expert  gatherer  of  oysters  from  the  shoals,  and  we  had 
abundance  of  sweet  potatoes  and  corn  bread  from  the  plantations. 

As  the  spring  approached  I  began  to  conclude  that  the  tapia  contract  to 
build  the  battery  would  not  be  fulfilled ;  indeed  I  had  letters  from  Wash- 
ington informing  me  that  General  Smith  had  extended  his  negotiations  with 
the  Secretary  of  War  to  the  Treasury  Department,  and  to  secure  the  "Reed 
bond"  had  mortgaged  rice  lands  on  the  Cape  Fear  river.  Thus  I  was 
left  with  but  slight  duty  in  my  small  command  of  troops  at  the  post.  I 
wrote  the  Secretar)'  of  War  for  such  leave  as  would  allow  me  to  look  after 
some  domestic  affairs  up  the  river  a  few  miles,  that  might  be  done  consist- 
ently with  my  responsibility  as  commandant  at  the  post  of  the  fort.  The 
request  was  granted  in  a  three  months'  leave  under  the  conditions  proposed, 
and  thus  I  left  Sergeant  Fowler  in  charge  of  the  troops  and  public  stores. 
Dr.  Everett  in  charge  of  the  hospital,  and  moved  my  family  to  Barnard's 
Creek,  on  the  Cape  Fear,  four  miles  below  Wilmington,  in  the  month  of 
February,  1806.  The  one-half  of  this  place,  including  a  tract  of  pine  land 
of  four  thousand  acres,  Mr.  Walker  had  given  to  Mrs.  Swift.  My  object 
was  to  essay  in  planting  and  milling.  The  plan  was  commenced  by 
widening  and  deepening  a  canal  from  the  mill  pond  to  a  rice  mill,  and  by 
constructing  a  set  of  conduits  at  the  tail  of  the  mill-race  to  run  the  water 
used  on  the  wheel  into  the  rice  field  below  the  mill,  extending  to  the  maro-in 
of  the  river  — for  the  water-culture  of  rice.  I  also  constructed  several 
of  Evan's  elevators,  and  brought  the  rice  machine  into  useful  and 
profitable    service. 

On  15th  May  my  first  child,  James  Foster,  was  born  at  the  residence  of 
his  grandfather  Walker,  and  in  walking  to  see  the  mother  and  son,  from  the 
mills,  overheated  and  injured  myself  By  the  middle  of  June  the  unhealthy 
residence  at  the  mills  had  convinced  me  that  rice  planting  and  milling  were 
not  suitable  pursuits  for  me  in  that  climate.  My  good  servant  Erickson,  a 
Swede,  had  died  of  the  fever,  and  I  buried  him  under  the  live  oaks  at  the 
margin  of  the  creek.  The  honest  man  gave  me  his  silver  sleeve-buttons  as 
a  memento  of  his  regard.     This  exposure  to  ill  health  caused  me  to  return 


62  THE  MEMOIRS   OF 

to  the  fort  in  May,  and  to  move  my  family  tliither  tlie  last  of  June,  1806; 
and  with  the  usual  monthly  report  to  the  War  Department  I  sent  an  appli- 
cation to  be  sent  to  any  northern  port  that  might  be  deemed  proper  for  me, 
and  was  replied  to,  that  such  should  be  done  as  soon  as  the  good  of  the 
service  might  indicate  a  station. 

Congress  had  this  year  remodeled  the  Articles  of  War,  and  in  the  63d 
article  provided  for  the  service  of  engineers  in  an  incongruous  and 
invidious  form  of  comparison.  The  aspect  of  our  affairs  with  Spain  had 
caused  a  law  to  call  out  one  hundred  thousand  of  the  militia  in  case  of 
need,  and  appropriated  for  fortifications  one  hundred  and  fifty  thousand 
dollars,  and  two  hundred  and  eighteen  thousand  dollars  for  arsenals,  arms, 
etc.  From  the  commencement  of  the  government  the  harbor  defences  had 
ever  been  tolerated  only  by  some  vague  ideas  that  England  —  ever  hoping 
for  some  fatal  mistake  on  our  part  to  give  them  foothold  in  some  part  of  the 
Union  —  might  come  suddenly  from  Halifax  or  Bermuda  and  seize  on 
Rhode  Island,  or  some  point  in  Chesapeake  Bay,  etc.,  to  prevent  which, 
the  wisdom  of  Congress  had  imagined  that  some  one  hundred  thousand 
dollars  a  year,  expended  on  these  harbors,  would  "keep  the  foe  at  bay." 
This  pittance,  however,  was  not  found  sufficient  to  afford  the  nation  one 
single  fort  in  complete  order  for  defence,  even  on  the  smallest  scale. 

On  14th  July  Lieutenant  William  Cox,  of  the  United  States  artillery, 
arrived  at  Fort  Johnston,  to  relieve  me  from  that  command,  but  found  me 
too  ill  of  fever  to  proceed  to  make  up  the  returns  and  receipts  of  and  for 
public  property,  and  so  continued  until  26th  of  August,  at  which  time  a 
storm  swept  all  the  craft  in  the  harbor  into  the  marshes,  save  the  revenue 
cutter.  On  28th  I  received  the  account  of  the  destruction  of  my  rice  crop, 
mill  dam  and  flood  gates  at  Barnard's,  from  what  source  I  cannot  say,  but 
from  that  day  I  began  to  recover  my  health,  and  by  8th  September  was  able 
to  travel  to  Wilmington,  and,  with  my  family,  to  sojourn  at  Mr.  James  W. 
Walker's  place  at  the  Sound.  On  15th  October  returned  to  the  fort,  and 
took  receipts  from  Lieutenant  Cox  for  all  the  public  property  at  the  fort, 
and  transmitted  the  one  part  of  the  duplicates  to  the  war  department. 

First  of  November  proceeded  to  Raleigh,  and  passed  a  few  days  of  my 


GENERAL  JOSEPH  GARDNER  SWIFT.  63 

convalescence  there  in  company  with  tlie  Governor  of  the  State,  Evan 
Alexander,  Esq.,  and  the  Secretary  of  State,  Mr.  John  Guion.  By  loth 
of  the  month  had  arrived  at  my  uncle  Jonathan  Swift's,  in  Alexandria, 
and  on  13th  at  the  War  office  in  Washington,  where  I  received  from  the 
Secretary  my  commission  as  captain  of  engineers.  Had  the  honor  to 
dine  with  President  Jefferson.  Among  the  guests  were  Mr.  Madison  the 
Secretary  of  State,  and  General  Tureau  the  ambassador  from  France,  who, 
in  the  conversation  after  dinner  gave  an  interesting  account  of  Bonaparte 
passing  the  Alps  into  Italy  and  overwhelming  the  Austrians,  and  was  warm 
in  an  eulogium  of  the  venerable  Wurmsur.  The  Secretary  of  War  said 
that  arrangements  would  be  made  by  Colonel  Williams  (my  beloved  chief) 
for  giving  me  a  northern  station  in  the  ensuing  spring.  On  my  return  to 
Carolina  I  passed  a  few  days  among  my  friends  in  Alexandria,  and  was 
there  assailed  by  ague  and  fever,  and  after  the  kind  nursing  of  my  good 
aunt  Swift  was  enabled  to  renew  my  journey  on  20th  November,  and 
reached  my  family  in  Wilmington,  North  Carolina,  on  12th  December, 
resting  on  my  way  at  the  Bowling  Green,  Richmond,  Fayetteville,  and  by 
Christmas  reported  myself  to  Colonel  Williams  by  letter,  that  I  was  fit  for 
duty.  During  my  absence  Major  Bruff,  of  the  army,  had  written  a  sarcastic 
letter  to  his  connection  in  Wilmington,  upon  such  a  youth  as  myself  having 
been  selected  to  relieve  his  brother-in-law.  Captain  John  Fergus,  in  the 
command  of  Fort  Johnston.  I  asked  the  major  to  explain  this  imperti- 
nence. He  apologized  for  the  error  that  he  had  committed,  as  he  called 
it,  and  we  were  restored  to  as  much  eood  humor  with  each  other  as  need 
be,  or,  as  seemed  to  me,  could  be,  with  his  unfortunate  temper.  He  was 
a  fault-finder  with  everybody  and  everything  not  influenced  by  his  com- 
placency ;  he  was,  however,  a  gentleman  of  some  ability,  and  esteemed  to 
be  a  good  administrative  officer. 

1807.  The  holidays  and  January  were  passed  among  my  acquaintances 
in  and  near  Wilmington  and  Fort  Johnston,  and  with  an  association  at  the 
head  of  which  was  Archibald  F.  McNeill,  Esq.,  the  object  of  which  was  to 
raise  means  to  aid  the  poor  of  Wilmington.  The  mode  was  by  representing 
some  of  the  plays  of  Shakspeare  and  others  of  the  English  drama.     The 


64  THE  MEMOIRS   OF 

price  of  the  tickets  was  a  dollar,  and  a  considerable  fund  was  realized,  and 
Mr.  McNeill  was  esteemed  (and  in  reality  was)  a  good  Hamlet.  Mr. 
McNeill  was  an  accomplished  gentleman  of  the  same  family  as  Dr.  Daniel 
McNeill  of  the  Scottish  emigrants,  after  the  battle  of  Culloden,  among 
whom  was  Flora  McDonald,  the  friend  of  Charles  Eduard  "the  Pretender." 
Mr.  McNeill's  mother  was  a  daughter  of  Sir  James  Wright,  the  colonial 
Governor  of  Georgia,  and  he  married  Miss  Quince,  an  heiress  of  Wil- 
mington and  cousin  of  Mrs.  Swift.  Dr.  Daniel  McNeill  is  an  intimate 
friend  of  mine.  His  wife,  the  beautiful  Miss  Martha  Kingsley,  is  one  of 
the  most  interesting  persons  of  Wilmington.  Among  my  other  intimates 
is  our  family  physician  and  friend,  and  cousin  of  Mrs.  Swift,  Dr.  Armand  J. 
De  Rosset.  He  is  of  an  old  Huguenot  family  expelled  from  France.  The 
brothers  Louis  and  John  had  been  early  settlers  in  Carolina,  and  officers  of 
the  royal  government,  and  steady  supporters  of  the  Episcopal  church.  Mr. 
George  Hooper  was  also  a  friend  of  mine.  His  family  came  from  Boston 
with  his  brother  William,  the  member  of  Congress  from  North  Carolina  in 
1776.  Mr.  George  Hooper  settled  as  a  merchant  in  Wilmington  and 
married  the  daughter  of  the  distinguished  counsellor,  Archibald  MacLean, 
and  is  a  gentleman  of  inborn  hospitality  and  of  fine  literary  taste,  and 
writes  well  and  with  facility  on  various  subjects.  The  Hon.  John  Hill, 
whose  family  came  also  from  Boston.  He  was  among  the  prosperous  rice 
planters  of  Cape  Fear.  His  brother  William  was  a  member  of  Congress. 
The  family  of  Swann  (formerly  Jones)  of  Virginia,  were  among  the  oldest 
and  most  respectable  families  of  the  neighborhood  of  Wilmington.  The 
ancient  family  of  Moor,  descended  from  Governor  James  Moor  of  South 
Carolina,  were  residing  on  the  banks  of  the  Cape  Fear.  Alfred,  recently  a 
judge  in  the  United  States  Supreme  Court,  and  his  sons  Alfred  and  Captain 
Maurice,  informed  me  that  this  family  was  of  that  of  Drogheda  in  Ireland, 
and  that  the  rebel,  Roger  Moor,  celebrated  as  the  defender  of  Irish  indepen- 
dence in  the  century  before  the  last,  was  of  the  same  family.*  The 
family  of  Ashe  was  also   living  here.     Colonel   Samuel,  an  accomplished 

•Major  Alexander  Duncan  Moor,  the  son  of  the  Revolutionary  general,  James  Moor,  was  of  the  same  family. 


GENERAL  JOSEPH  GARDNER  SWIFT.  65 

gentleman  and  son  of  the  governor  of  that  name.  They  had  given 
several  officers  to  the  army  of  the  Revolution,  such  as  John  Baptist 
and    Captain    Samuel. 

My  groomsmen,  John  Fanning  and  George  Burgwin,  were  the  sons  of 
an  opulent  merchant  of  Wilmington.  The  family  came  from  Bristol  in 
England,  where  these  sons  were  educated.  They  introduced  at  their 
residence,  the  Hermitage,  the  modern  social  habits  of  the  English  gentry, 
and  which  the  elder  people  of  Wilmington  said  was  not  an  improvement 
upon  the  days  when  the  Tories  (Dr.  Robert  Tucker,  Francis  Cobham  and 
Colonel  John  Fanning)  had  given  the  gentry  of  Cape  Fear  a  sample  of 
English  manners,  as  practiced  in  New  York  when  that  was  a  British 
garrison  in  the  Revolution.  Be  that  as  it  may,  the  Hermitage  was  a 
delightful  visiting  place.  The  sister  of  the  Burgwins  was  a  beautiful 
woman,  and  had  also  been  educated  in  England,  and  had  married  Dr. 
Cletherall  of   South  Carolina. 

I  had  now  been  nearly  three  years  a  resident  of  North  Carolina,  and  had 
experienced  the  kindness  and  hospitality  of  many  of  its  good  citizens,  and 
become  attached  to  them,  and  had  also  in  a  measure  become  identified  with 
their  institutions;  was  a  master  of  a  few  slaves,  and  had  a  little  experience 
of  their  ways  and  knowledge  of  their  condition.  The  relation  of  master 
and  slave  in  that  part  of  North  Carolina  is  of  a  kindly  character  in  general 
on  the  part  of  the  masters.  But  with  my  essays  to  operate  with  this  class 
of  laborers  I  could  not  be  reconciled  to  their  perpetual  retention  in  a 
condition  forbidding  their  mental  improvement ;  and  as  far  as  my  obser- 
vation extended  a  sentiment  similar  to  this  was  entertained  by  most  of  the 
educated  gentlemen.  That  which  seemed  to  me  the  worst  consequence  of 
slavery  was  its  influence  upon  the  minds  and  habits  of  the  white  children. 
The  natural  disposition  to  rule,  that  is  inherent  in  the  human  mind,  is  nour- 
ished in  the  "young  master"  and  mistress.  They  become  impatient  and 
domineering,  and  vent  their  angry  passions  upon  the  negro  children. 
These  passions  grow  and  strengthen  with  the  years  of  both  white  and 
negro  child  until  both  approach  their  "teens."  It  is  of  the  nature  of 
human   qualities  that  it  should  be  so  with  both  parties. 


66  THE  MEMOIRS   OF 

[Boston  Harbor,  1809.  At  West  Point  two  years  ago  I  had  collated  and 
transcribed  from  my  diary  to  the  period  of  ni)-  approaching  departure  from 
North  Carolina,  and  at  the  present  time  —  as  my  public  works  are  drawing 
to  a  close,  and  having  sent  my  family  by  packet  to  Wilmington  under  the 
escort  of  my  friend  Benjamin  Blaney,  who  had  been  visiting  his  relations  at 
Roxbury,  preparatory'  to  my  own  return  to  Fort  Johnston  on  official  duty — 
I  proceed  to  occupy  leisure  moments  in  a  further  collation  ol  my  journals.] 

1807.  In  the  month  of  P^ebruary  I  received  orders  from  Colonel 
Williams,  who  was  then  at  the  war  office  in  Washington,  to  repair  to 
West  Point  early  in  the  ensuing  April,  and  receive  the  command  of  that 
post  from   Captain  William  A.   Barron. 

I  negotiated  a  loan  at  the  Bank  of  Cape  Fear  for  four  hundred  dollars, 
and  received  one  hundred  and  fifty  dollars  from  the  United  States,  and  on 
20th  March  was  on  board  the  packet  Venus,  Captain  Oliver,  with  Mrs. 
Swift's  mother  and  niece  Margaret  as  our  companions,  and,  with  Mrs.  Swift 
and  our  son  James  and  servant  Nancy,  proceeded  before  a  fair  wind  by  the 
New  Inlet  to  sea,  and  on  28th  arrived  at  Mrs.  Tilford's  boarding  house  in 
Courtlandt  street,  city  of  New  York.  The  ne.xt  day  gave  Mr.  George 
Gibbs  two  hundred  dollars  that  I  had  received  for  him  from  Carleton 
Walker,  Esq.,  of  Wilmington,  and  on  6th  April  arrived  by  a  Newburgh 
packet  at  old  West  Point,  and  received  the  command  of  the  same  from 
Captain  Barron,  who  went  to  the  city.  Mrs.  Swift,  mother,  and  niece, 
took  the  barge  and  made  a  visit  to  her  uncle  and  Aunt  Du  Bois  at  New- 
burgh, where  I  joined  them  in  a  few  days  thereafter,  and  found  Mr.  Du  Bois 
(John)  an  intelligent  old  gentleman,  full  of  reminiscences  of  the  .scenes 
of  the  war  of  1781  in  Carolina,  and  of  the  iron  rule  of  Major  Craig, 
Governor  at  Wilmington  in  those  days,  and  familiar  with  the  events  of  the 
De  Rosset  and  Du  Bois  families,  then  prominent  people  in  North  Carolina. 
The  former  he  described  as  refugees  to  Holland  after  the  St.  Bartholomew's 
massacre,  and  the  latter  as  refugees  to  the  colonies  after  the  revocation  of 
the  Edict  of  Nantes. 

On  14th  April  received  orders  from  Colonel  Williams  (he  then  being, 
with  Major  Macomb,  on  duty  in  Charleston,  S.  C.,)  to  serve  an  arrest  on 


GENERAL  JOSEPH  GARDNER  SWIFT.  67 

Captain  Barron,  who  had  recently  returned  from  New  York,  and  who  with 
readiness  obeyed  the  order. 

The  academy  was  opened  under  my  superintendence,  Professor  F.  R. 
Hassler  being  at  the  head  of  the  mathematical  department,  and  F.  De 
Masson  the  teacher  of  French  and  drawing. 

Among  the  cadets  who  joined  the  academy  this  spring  were  Sylvanus 
Thayer  and  Alpheus  Roberts,  graduates  from  Dartmouth  College,  and 
Miles  Mason  and  James  Gibson,  who  were  among  the  most  prominent 
in  Mr.  Hassler's  classes. 

By  the  approbation  of  the  Secretary  of  War,  through  Colonel  Williams, 
I  commenced  the  formation  of  a  library  for  the  Academy,  and  employed 
Samuel  Campbell,  of  New  York,  to  import  the  books,  and  sent  Lieutenant 
George  Bumford  to  New  York  to  aid  in  this  business.  In  June,  while 
in  New  York,  I  was  enabled  to  transmit  to  my  friend  John  Bradley,  Esq., 
of  Wilmington,  two  hundred  dollars,  the  one-half  of  my  debt  to  the  bank 
at  that  place.  In  this  month  the  family  of  Colonel  Williams  arrived  at  the 
Point,  the  colonel  being  employed  on  the  fortifications  in  New  York 
harbor,  while,  by  order  of  the  War  Department  he  was  held  responsible 
for  the  superintendence  of  the  Academy,  and  consequently  made,  in  his 
visits  to  his  family,  frequent  inspections  at  the  Academy.  The  colonel  had 
become  pleased  with  the  perpendicular  system  of  defence  of  Montalembert, 
and  was  permitted  by  the  President  to  apply  so  much  thereof  as  could 
be  in  round  towers  on  Governor's  Island,  etc. 

On  13th  June  Lieutenant  E.  D.  W^ood  and  myself  proceeded  to  Fort  Jay 
as  members  of  a  court  martial  there,  for  the  trial  of  Professor  William  A. 
Barron.  The  court  adjourned  on  19th  in  consequence  of  the  resignation  of 
the  major,  and  Lieutenant  Wood  and  myself  returned  to  West  Point  on  24th, 
where  I  had  the  pleasure  to  find  my  father,  who  in  my  absence  had  arrived 
on  a  visit  to  us.  He  became  amused  in  walks  among  the  highlands  and 
redouts  of  the  Revolution,  and  in  the  public  stores  where  were  the  trophies 
of  the  war,  and  also  the  ponderous  chain  that  had  been  extended  from  the 
rocks  of  the  Point  to  the  opposite  shore  at  Constitution  Island,  to  impede 
the  passage  of  Sir  Henry  Clinton's  expedition.     In  these  explorations  I  was 


68  THE  MEMOIRS  OF 

his  companion,  and  was  inquisitive  about  the  early  Hfe  of  my  father,  and 
his  marriage  and  travels.  Among  his  details  he  said  that  the  death  of  his 
father  had  occurred  under  the  tyranny  of  General  Gage  when  he  was  in  his 
sixteenth  year,  and  had  been  prepared  at  Mother  Lovel's  school  to  enter 
Cambridge  College,  but  being  the  oldest  child  it  was  necessar)-  for  him 
to  remain  with  his  mother,  sisters  and  brother.  His  father  had  been  an 
active  Whig,  and  his  moderate  property  in  Boston  had  suffered  injury 
while  the  town  was  a  garrison  ;  that  in  returning  to  Boston  with  the  family 
after  the  evacuation  by  the  British  troops  they  found  their  residence  sadly 
dilapidated,  as  was  also  the  similar  case  of  many  a  neighbor;  that  the 
residence  in  town  and  a  small  country  place  on  Dorchester  Point  formed 
nearly  all  the  means  of  support  to  the  family,  aided  by  the  needles  of  his 
mother  and  sisters ;  that  his  brother  Jonathan  was  apprenticed  to  Mr.  May, 
a  merchant,  and  that  himself  commenced  in  1779  the  study  of  medicine 
with  Doctor  Joseph  Gardner,  after  the  completion  of  which  he  had  the 
appointment  of  surgeon  in  the  navy,  and  in  the  squadron  sent  in  1781  to 
Holland,  on  board  the  Portsmouth,  commanded  by  that  "dare  devil"  Daniel 
McNeill,  when  that  sloop  of  war  was  captured  by  the  Culloden  —  seventy- 
four  guns  —  commanded  by  Lord  Robert  Manners  of  Rodney's  fleet;  that 
he  had  difficulty  in  dissuading  Captain  McNeill  from  firing  into  the 
Culloden  for,  as  he  said,  "the  honor  of  the  American  flag."  They  were 
carried  to  the  Island  of  St.  Lucia  as  prisoners  of  war,  where,  from  having 
been  professionally  serviceable  to  Captain  Manners  he  was  permitted  to 
practice  on  shore  on  parole,  and  there  received  fees  that  enabled  him  to 
assist  his  fellow  prisoners,  and  where  he  declined  the  kind  offer  of  Captain 
Manners  to  rate  him  a  surgeon  in  the  English  navy.  Such  of  his  fellow- 
prisoners  as  could  swim  executed  a  daring  project  long  contemplated,  in  a 
night  attempt  to  get  silently  into  the  water  and  swim  and  capture  a  brig 
laying  at  anchor,  and  which  was  effected  by  twelve  of  them,  expert  swim- 
mers, who  boarded  the  brig  by  the  cable,  and  cutting  the  same,  and 
fastening  down  the  hatches  on  the  small  crew  (their  number  being  eight,) 
they  brought  that  ves.sel  into  Chatham  Harbor  on  Cape  Cod,  with  Captain 
Daniel  McNeill  as  their  leader,  and  sold   the  brig,  and  all   reached  their 


GENERAL  JOSEPH  GARDNER  SWIFT.  69 

homes  in  safety;  that  from  Boston  my  father  went  to  Nantucket,  with  an 
introduction  from  Dr.  Gardner,  and  then  made  an  essay  to  estabHsh  himself 
in  Virginia,  where  he  received  the  friendly  aid  of  General  Washington,  to 
whom  he  had  carried  a  package  and  introduction  from  General  Benjamin 
Lincoln,  and  also  his  business  references  of  General  Roberdeau  and  Colonel 
Hove  of  Alexandria,  but  that  health  failing  him  he  had  abandoned  the 
project  and  returned  to  Nantucket,  etc. 

In  this  month  of  June  the  Secretary  of  War  sent  me  the  appointment  of 
military  agent  for  the  post  of  West  Point.  On  loth  of  the  following 
month  of  July  I  accompanied  my  father  to  the  city  on  his  return  home 
to  Taunton.  While  descending  the  river  we  witnessed  the  fish  hawk's 
surrender  of  his  prey  to  the  eagle,  in  company  with  John  Garnet,  Esquire, 
the  distinguished  mathematician  and  philosopher  of  New  Brunswick  in 
New  Jersey,  who  had  been  to  West  Point  on  a  visit  to  the  family  of  Colonel 
Williams  and  to  Mr.  Hassler.  The  latter  gentleman  had  been  sent  to  West 
Point  by  Mr.  Jefferson,  at  the  instance  of  Mr.  Hassler's  countryman  and 
friend,  Mr.  Gallatin.  Mr.  Hassler  was  established  in  the  former  Rivardi 
quarters.  Mr.  Hassler  had  an  high  repute  for  scientific  attainments,  and 
he  had  brought  to  West  Point  an  extensive  library.  He  was  from  the 
Canton  of  Berne  in  Switzerland,  and  had  been  the  attorney-general  of  that 
canton,  and  had  also  been  at  the  head  of  the  great  survey  of  Switzerland. 
The  cause  that  he  stated  to  me  of  his  coming  to  the  United  States  was  the 
conduct  of  his  countrymen  in  submitting  to  the  interference  of  France  in 
the  affairs  of  Switzerland.  He  exhibited  a  curious  union  of  love  of  science 
and  politics  ;  his  standard  of  excellence  in  the  latter  being  the  republican 
views  that  he  entertained  for  the  government  of  his  native  land.  One  of 
the  prominent  tones  of  his  mind  was  a  hatred  of  England.  He  had  been 
unfortunate  in  his  first  investments  of  property  in  the  United  States,  and 
therefore  the  professorate  at  West  Point  was  convenient  to  him.  He  was 
an  excellent  teacher. 

On  the  arrival  of  my  father  and  myself  at  the  City  Hotel,  in  New  York, 
we  found  there  collections  of  people  in  excited  conversatian  about  the 
outrage  committed  on  2 2d  ultimo  on  the  United  States  frigate  Chesapeake. 


70  THE  MEMOIRS   OF 

Commodore  Barron,  by  the  British  frigate  Leopard,  Captain  Humphrey;  an 
act  that  added  contemptuous  insult  to  injuries  of  impressment  of  our  seamen 
under  an  arbitrary  rule  of  1756.  This  event  excited  a  war  feeling,  but  Mr. 
Jefferson's  wisdom  was  of  a  peaceful  nature,  and  he  assuaged  the  public 
fever.  Congress  sustained  his  views,  and  looked  to  placing  our  harbors  in 
a  better  condition  to  resist  attack.  Appropriations  of  one  hundred  and 
fifty  thousand  dollars  for  fortifications  from  Maine  to  Georgia —  not  enough 
for  any  one  of  the  larger  harbors ;  the  law  also  providing  two  hundred  and 
eighteen  thousand  dollars  for  armament  and  arsenals,  and  five  hundred 
thousand  dollars  to  call  out  volunteers  in  case  of  need;  also,  fifty  thousand 
dollars  for  the  survey  of  the  coast,  including  the  publication  of  Thomas 
Cole's  and  Jonathan  Price's  survey  of  the  coast  of  North  Carolina  ;  the  latter 
gentleman  having  published  an  interesting  map  of  the  whole  of  that 
State,  one  of  the  best  specimens  of  maps  yet  published  in  the  Union, 
fully  equal  to  Mr.  Madison's  map  of  Virginia,  though  both  have  many 
errors  in  them. 

The  general  feeling  of  resentment  through  the  country,  that  made  the 
prospect  of  war  with  England  popular,  may  have  been  induced  to  a  sedative 
condition  by  a  double  excitement,  one  of  the  consequences  of  the  efforts 
of  Mr.  Jefferson  to  bring  Colonel  Burr  to  trial  for  treason.  The  zeal 
exhibited  in  this  effort,  and  the  rigor  pursued  toward  two  of  Colonel  Burr's 
friends  —  Bollman  and  Swartwont — began  to  give  a  taste  of  personal  and 
party  rancor  against  Burr.  Although  the  general  impression  was  adverse  to 
Burr,  his  intriguing  character  was  feared,  and  perhaps  a  greater  importance 
was  attached  to  this  propensity  than  it  deserved,  for,  though  Colonel  Burr 
may  have  been  full  of  designs,  he  executed  none  of  them,  save  to  destroy 
General  Hamilton  —  and  this  an  accident  of  the  duel.  It  was  the  great 
position  occupied  by  Hamilton  that  made  Burr  the  object  of  public  odium. 
The  merits  of  the  duel  are  to  be  measured  by  those  of  giving  and 
accepting  a  challenge. 

I  returned  to  West  Point,  taking  with  me  by  the  request  of  the  pay- 
master, Lieutenant  N.  Pinckney,  three  thousand  five  hundred  and  fifty- 
seven  dollars  due  to  the  officers,  etc.,  at  the  Point. 


GENERAL  JOSEPH  GARDNER  SWIFT.  7 1 

On  the  last  evening  of  July  a  meeting  of  the  United  States  Military 
Philosophical  Society  was  convened  at  West  Point,  in  the  Academy,  at 
which  a  member,  the  traveler  Lewis  Simond,  and  also  Count  Mimeenitz 
were  present  —  visitors  of  Colonel  Williams.  They  made  some  pertinent 
remarks  on  military  biography,  the  object  before  the  meeting  being  some 
MSS.  of  the  life  and  acts  of  Kosciusko,  Pulaski  and  De  Kalb.  Colonel 
Williams  also  presented  a  MS.  on  the  Field  Exercises  of  Artiller)-,  and 
Professor  Hassler  read  a  paper  on  his  views  of  forming  a  general  map  of 
the  United  States,  and  stated  some  points  of  his  correspondence  with  Mr. 
Gallatin  on  the  subject  of  a  survey  of  the  coast  of  the  United  States.  Mr. 
Hassler's  mind  was  of  a  desultory  cast,  in  fact  it  seemed  to  be  crowded  with 
ideas.  At  the  black-board  he  would  occasionally  branch  off  into  notions  of 
extending  the  use  of  the  lecture  then  giving  to  surveys  of  the  mountains 
of  the  country,  and  referring  to  the  map  of  the  United  States  would  point 
out  the  geographical  form  that  nature  had  inade  of  its  mountains  and 
valleys,  and  water  courses,  in  a  sort  of  opposition  to  the  artificial  boundaries 
of  the  states.  In  experiments  in  the  field  he  gave  the  cadets  clear  ideas  of 
the  use  of  instruments  for  measuring  angles  and  lines,  and  from  the  summit 
of  the  Crow's  Nest  measured  angles  of  depression  of  objects  on  the  plain 
and  river  bank  by  the  excess  above  ninety  degrees,  using  a  basin  of 
mercury  and  the  reflected  image  of  the  pupil  of  the  eye,  that  being  the 
vertex,  etc.  During  the  month  of  September  a  comet  gave  him  occasion 
to  measure  its  angular  relation  to  Lyra  and  others  of  the  stars,  to  determine 
the  orbit  of  the  comet,  while  Mr.  Garnet,  of  New  Jersey,  was  making  there 
similar  measurements  for  the  same  object. 

On  26th  October  I  accompanied  Mrs.  Swift's  mother  and  niece  to  New- 
York,  and  saw  them  well  accommodated  on  board  the  packet,  and  under 
way  for  Wilmington,  N.  C.  On  the  last  day  of  the  month  received  from 
the  paymaster.  Lieutenant  Pinckney,  two  thousand  one  hundred  and  ninety- 
four  dollars,  which,  with  a  /ormer  amount  received  from  him,  I  fully 
disbursed  in  paying  the  garrison  at  West  Point,  and  closed  accounts 
with  that  officer.  I  also  received  from  Peter  Gainsevort,  at  Albany,  one 
thousand  four  hundred  and  ninety-one  dollars,  which  sum  was  also  fully 


72  THE  MEMOIRS   OF 

disbursed  in  my  military  agency  at  the  Point,  and  accounts  closed  with  him. 

On  1 8th  of  November  went  with  Mr.  Hassler  over  the  Highlands  on 
foot  to  Newburgh  in  a  very  dry  and  boisterous  day.  On  reaching  New 
Windsor  we  discovered  the  dwelling  of  Mr.  Thos.  Ellison  to  be  on  fire,  and 
a  remarkable  apathy  on  the  part  of  the  people  in  efforts  to  extinguish  the 
flames,  that  were  in  the  roof;  the  ladies  of  the  family  in  great  dismay,  and 
at  work  bringing  large  quantities  of  plate  and  other  valuables  into  the 
street.  Mr.  Hassler  and  myself  carried  water  to  the  roof,  and,  not  without 
scorching  ourselves,  succeeded  in  quenching  the  fire,  and  also  succeeded  in 
aiding  the  ladies  to  secure  and  restore  their  valuables  to  the  house  without 
loss  to  them.  The  father,  Mr.  Ellison,  seemed  an  unconcerned  spectator  of 
the  scene. 

On  23d  of  this  month  closed  the  Academy,  and  on  leave  embarked  my 
family  on  board  a  packet  that  had  come  to  the  dock  by  appointment,  and, 
with  an  early  acquaintance  from  Taunton,  Mr.  Ingalls,  proceeded  to  New 
York,  leaving  the  command  of  West  Point  with  Lieutenant  E.  D.  Wood  of 
the  engineers.  The  next  day  we  arrived  at  the  city,  and  visited  our  Beverly 
friends,  the  Dennings,  and  those  of  the  family  of  George  Gibbs,  Brooklyn 
Heights.  Found  that  the  family  of  Dr.  McNeill  had  departed  for  Wil- 
mington, in  Carolina.  Our  packet  sailed  on  5th  December,  and  passing 
through  Long  Island  Sound  and  Newport  Harbor  we  ascended  Taunton 
River,  and  arrived  at  my  father's  house  in  that  town  with  Louisa  and  my  son 
James,  and  our  servant.  This  was  the  first  interview  between  my  father's 
and  my  own  family.  I  had  not  been  at  home  since  20th  March,  1803  ; 
found  a  sad  vacancy  in  the  family  circle  which  the  death  of  my  sister  Nancy 
had  made,  and  with  pain  observed  its  effects  upon  the  countenance  of  my 
mother,  though  my  sister  had  been  now  two  years  dead ;  my  brother 
William  Henry  absent  at  school. 

My  father's  neighbors,  who  had  known  me  from  boyhood,  received  my 
family  with  kind  attentions,  and  some  half  dozen  of  them,  with  my  early 
friend,  Charles  Leonard,  Esq.,  and  my  teacher,  the  Rev.  Simeon  Dogget, 
honored  my  twenty-fourth  birthday  at  a  party  given  by  my  father,  a  very 
gratifying  scene  to  me,  and  which  was   increased  by  an   invitation    from 


GENERAL  JOSEPH  GARDNER  SWIFT.  -j^ 

Mr.  Doggett  to  partake  in  an  examination  of  the  pupils  of  the  academy, 
where  he  had  prepared  me  to  enter  Harvard  College,  and  where  I  had 
undergone  a  similar  ordeal  to  that  now  visited  upon  the  younger  brothers 
of  my  then  class  mates. 

1808.  In  the  spring  of  the  year  past  Congress  had  commenced  in  earnest 
to  unfold  its  views,  and  a  general  improvement  of  the  means  of  intercourse 
between  the  widespread  States  of  the  Union.  Members  from  those  parts 
thereof,  which  by  nature  did  not  admit  of  many  improvements  beyond 
those  of  the  rivers  in  the  interior,  took  objections  to  any  action  by  the 
United  States,  on  the  ground  that  useful  action  would  be  unconstitutional, 
while  those  members  from  the  more  easily  improved  parts  of  the  Union 
were  as  earnestly  in  favor  of  entering  upon  a  general  system  of  improve- 
ments, under  the  clause  of  the  constitution  that  contemplates  the  promotion 
of  commerce  between  the  States.  The  Cumberland  Road  was  so  palpably 
of  this  tendency  that  its  construction  by  the  United  States  was  authorized. 

The  early  assembling  of  Congress  in  October  was  in  accordanee  with  the 
feeling  of  the   countr>',   that   had  become  more  and   more   hostile   to   the 
exclusive  and  arrogant  maratime  pretensions  of  England.     This  feelino-  was 
embittered    by   the   gross    act    of  the    naval    commander   of  England,    in 
assaulting  a    national   ship,   the  defenceless  condition   of  which   (whether 
justifiable  on  our  part  or  not,)  was  well  known  to  the  British  commander; 
the   insult,  therefore,   of  "pouring  in   a  broadside"   into  the   Chesapeake 
frigate,  thus  circumstanced,  was  an  act  of  weak  policy  in  England,  and  also 
an  act  of  perfidy  made  while  pretending  to  desire  peace,  and  while  enjoying 
our  hospitality.     Yet,  although  the  feeling  of  the  country  was  warlike,  and 
the  treasury  of  the  nation  overflowing,  Mr.  Jefterson  preferred  non-inter- 
course to  war,  for  France  had  also  become  as  arrogant  as  England.     The 
grasping  power  of  Napoleon  contemplated  to  make  us  subservient  to  his 
views,  and  what  with  orders  in  the  British  council  and  the  decrees  of  Bona- 
parte our  commerce  with  Europe  was  nearly  extinguished.     Under  these 
pressures,  the  influence  of  Mr.  Jefferson  with  Congress  was  able  to  induce 
the  interdict  by  a  general  embargo,  an  act  that  lost  sight  of  the  predominant 
habits  of  the  North,  and   by  consequence  putting  a  stop  to  the  carrying 


74  THE  MExMOIRS   OF 

trade  from  the  South.  The  measure  was  deemed  by  Congress  to  be  of  a 
peaceful  tendency,  while  in  January  that  body  appropriated  a  miUion  for 
fortifying  the  harbors,  and  making  promotions  in  the  corps  of  engineers  to 
the  extent  of  the  law,  in  order  to  construct  the  requisite  works  in  those 
harbors ;  also  granting  two  hundred  and  eighteen  thousand  dollars  for 
magazines  of  ammunition,  three  hundred  thousand  dollars  for  arms,  two 
hundred  thousand  dollars  annually  thereafter  to  arm  the  militia,  and  also 
provided  for  adding  five  regiments  of  infantry,  one  of  riflemen,  one  of 
light  artillery  and  one  of  dragoons,  to  the  existing  army. 

This  winter  we  received  the  sad  account  of  the  sudden  illness  and  death 
of  Mrs.  Swift's  father,  Captain  Walker,  in  Wilmington,  North  Carolina,  on 
1 8th  January,  at  the  age  of  sixty-six  years.  He  sent  me  a  message  through 
Dr.  De  Rosset  of  his  hopes  that  I  would  approve  of  his  will.  I  did  not, 
however,  see  the  justice  by  which  his  son  James  received  the  greater 
portion  of  the  estate.  This  will  diminished  my  prospects  of  settling  my 
family,  as  was  contemplated  to  be  done,  near  Boston,  in  accordance  with 
arrangements  to  be  made  under  the  orders  of  my  official  chief,  with  whom  I 
was  exchanging  thoughts  in  reference  to  his  purpose  to  assign  me  to  duty 
in  that  quarter.  The  Secretary  of  War  had  directed  Colonel  Williams  to 
divide  the  Atlantic  coast  into  departments,  and  to  assign  the  officers  of 
engineers  to  the  various  harbors  where  defensive  works  were  to  be  con- 
structed. On  loth  March,  with  my  new  commission,  as  major  of  engineers, 
came  the  orders  of  Colonel  Williams  that  assigned  me  to  the  Eastern 
Department,  comprised  of  the  states  of  Rhode  Island,  Massachusetts  and 
Maine,  with  Lieutenants  S.  Thayer,  P.  Willard,  and  J.  G.  Totten  as  my 
assistants,  and  with  orders  to  correspond  directly  with  the  Secretar)-  of  War 
on  the  subject  of  plans  of  forts,  etc.  Without  surveys  it  seemed  to  me 
impracticable  to  commence  the  duty  assigned  to  me,  beyond  repairing  the 
already  existing  redouts.  I  knew  nothing  of  the  capabilities  of  Boston 
Harbor.  Of  Newport  Harbor  I  had  some  clear  ideas  from  my  services 
there  upon  the  fortifications  in  1801.  Upon  inquiry' at  the  War  Department 
I  learned  that  there  had  not  been  any  surveys  made  by  the  Department 
since  the  projections  in  General  Washington's  time,  made  by  Rochefontaine 


GENERAL  JOSEPH  GARDiVER   SWIFT.  75 

and  Rivardi,  and  in  Mr.  Adams'  time  by  Tousard,  which  last  embraced 
repairs  upon  Castle  Williams  (thereafter  called  Fort  Independence,)  and 
upon  an  ill-contrived  redout  at  Fort  Constitution  at  the  mouth  of  the 
Piscataqua,  New  Hampshire,  and  upon  the  block-houses  and  magazines  at 
Portland  and  some  minor  points,  as  at  Marblehead,  etc. 

These  works  had  been  commenced  by  Colonel  Rochefontaine,  of  the 
pontoon  train  in  the  Army  of  France  in  the  Revolution,  and  at  Newport  by 
Colonel  Tousard,  an  officer  of  distinction  in  the  same  army. 

The  plans  of  Bureau  de  Pazzy  for  the  harbors  of  New  York  and  Boston, 
that  had  been  devised  in  President  Adams'  time,  were  deemed  to  be  far  too 
extensive,  and  expensive,  to  be  embraced  by  the  appropriations.  In  this 
view  the  main  error  may  have  been  in  omitting  to  adopt  such  of  the  views 
as  were  contemplated  by  those  plans  that  were  in  fact  appropriate  to  the 
proper  sites,  and  within  our  means  to  accomplish. 

It  is  to  be  admitted,  that  whatever  may  have  been  the  talents  of  Colonel 
Rochefontaine,  he  had  occupied  many  good  positions  with  his  narrow 
redouts,  and  also  that  such  works  were  more  commensurate  with  the  views 
of  Congress  at  the  time  than  in  accordance  with  those  of  the  Colonel.  My 
replies  from  the  War  Department  also  informed  me  that  plans  for  "new 
positions"  were  then  maturing  at  Washington,  while  my  idea  was  that  they 
should  be  designed  on  the  spot  where  they  were  required. 

On  1 6th  March,  1808,  I  proceeded  to  my  duties  at  Boston,  and  with 
boats  and  other  instruments  e.xplored  the  harbor,  and  reported  to  the 
Secretary  of  War  that  George's  Island  and  Long  Island  Head  commanded 
the  entrance  to  the  main  channels,  and  that  whatever  mieht  be  determined 
upon,  those  points  should  be  embraced  by  the  works  of  defence  for  the 
harbor,  knowing  that  Governor's  Island  had  become  the  most  important 
point  in  the  estimate  of  the  advisers  of  the  Department  at  Washington. 

In  the  ensuing  month  of  April  made  an  excursion  to  the  east,  and 
selected  Naugus  Head  at  Salem,  Black  Point  on  the  Merrimack,  Kittery 
opposite  Fort  Constitution,  New  Hampshire,  Spring  Point  and  House 
Island  at  Portland,  for  new  positions  for  defensive  works.  I  did  not 
proceed  further  east,  being  advised  by  the  Secretary  of  War  that  Colonel 


76  THE  MEMOIRS   OF 

Moses  Porter  had  been  charged  with  the  defenses  further  east  in  Maine, 
Henry  A.  S.  Dearborn,  Esq.,  of  Portland,  Captain  Walbach  and  D. 
Langdon  of  Portsmouth,  Mr.  Hartshorn  of  Salem,  Mr.  Kittredge  at 
Gloucester,  Mr.  Eustis  at  Boston,  and  Captain  Lloyd  Beale  at  Newport, 
R.  I.,  had  been  appointed  the  agents  of  fortifications,  to  all  of  whom  I 
gave  requisition  for  materials  to  be  collected  at  the  respective  points.  It 
was  determined  to  repair  the  Rochefontaine  work  at  Marblehead,  and  at 
Gloucester  Point.  On  commencing  the  latter  I  found  the  salt  marsh  sod 
firm  and  compact  as  it  had  been  laid  in  the  parapets  in  1775. 

On  my  return  to  Boston  made  a  flying  visit  to  my  father's,  in  Taunton, 
where  I  found  a  son  born  30th  March,  both  his  mother  and  self  doing 
well.  I  named  him  Jonathan  Williams,  in  honor  of  my  patron,  the  chief  of 
the  corps  of  engineers.  Early  in  May  moved  my  family  from  Taunton  to 
Fort  Independence  (Castle  Williams,)  where  my  aunt  Mary  Swift  joined 
my  family. 

On  loth  May  Lieutenant  S.  Thayer  reported  himself  for  duty  at  Fort 
Independence.  On  the  same  day  I  received  from  the  War  Department 
several  plans  of  a  species  of  Star  Fort,  contrived  at  Washington,  too  small 
for  any  flank  defense,  and  too  complicated  for  a  mere  battery,  unsuited  to 
the  position  for  which  they  had  been  devised.  The  only  resort  left  to  me 
was  to  turn  these  plans  on  their  centre  until  they  might  suit  the  sites  as 
best  they  might,  in  Boston,  Portland,  and  other  harbors. 

I  have  now  (1809)  been  nearly  two  years  conducting  the  constructions 
of  these  works,  and  presume  these  plans  to  have  emanated  from  some 
Revolutionary  worthy  near  the  War  Department — probably  Col.  Burbeck. 
Evidently  they  were  adopted  in  preference  to  the  plans  of  us  young  officers 
who  had  given  our  opinion  in  favor  of  a  more  appropriate  form  and  extent. 
We  were  indeed  very  young  and  inexperienced,  save  our  chief  and  Major 
Wadsworth,  who.se  opinion  in  the  matter  was  avoided  in  consequence  of  the 
Secretary  of  War  not  approving  the  round  towers  in  New  York  Harbor. 
It  was  not  unreasonable  to  doubt  the  "constructing  ability"  of  young  men, 
though  they  knew  far  more  of  the  theor)'  of  defense  than  any  of  those  who 
were  advisers  at  the  War  Department;  ami  it  seemed  to  be  forgotten  that 


GENERAL  JOSEPH  GARDNER  SWIFT.  77 

the  experience  now  to  be  attained  by  these  young  men  was  the  only  way 
by  which  they  could  be  improved. 

In  the  month  of  June  Dr.  Eustis,  of  Boston,  was  requested  by  the 
Secretary  of  War  to  counsel  with  me  on  the  subject  of  a  plan  to  enforce 
the  embargo  law  of  December  last.  At  the  rooms  of  the  doctor  I  met 
Mr.  Benjamin  Austin,  and  other  warm  supporters  of  Mr.  Jefferson's  views, 
but  it  was  evident  that  embargo  was  a  severe  test  of  their  party  views.  I 
stated  to  them  that  there  would  be  no  difficulty  in  planting  a  battery  that 
would  ensure  an  obedience  to  the  law,  and  that  they  would  find  that  political 
sentiment  would  have  no  influence  with  any  officer  in  the  harbor.  There 
had  been  meetings  of  the  citizens,  and  much  talk  of  resisting  this  embargo 
law,  but  the  battery  was  constructed  under  my  direction,  and  vessels  were 
brought  to  anchor  under  its  guns,  and  no  other  disagreeable  consequence 
than  an  interruption  to  some  social  intercourse  in  Boston.  It  was  not  until 
the  middle  of  the  month  of  June  that  I  was  enabled  to  proceed  to  New 
Bedford  and  Plymouth  to  apply  the  "Washington  Stars,"  to  suit  the 
commanding  points  in  those  harbors.  On  my  return  to  Boston  Governor 
Sullivan  requested  me  to  meet  the  Council  of  the  State  at  his  rooms,  (he 
was  ill  and  lame,)  to  consult  in  reference  to  any  calling  out  of  the  militia 
to  occupy,  in  case  of  need,  the  works  that  were  in  progress  of  construction 
on  the  coast  of  the  State.  This  meeting  was  held  on  23d  June,  and  I 
presented  to  it  the  maratime  condition  of  the  coast,  and  found  Governor 
Sullivan  full  of  intelligence  on  the  subject.  On  i8th  of  the  following 
month  of  July  the  Secretary  of  War  arrived  in  Boston  upon  an  inspecting 
tour.  He  consented  to  examine  Long  Island  Head  and  George's  Island,  in 
which  excursion  I  gave  him  my  thoughts  upon  the  inutility  of  expending 
money  upon  Governor's  Island  and  the  Upper  Harbor.  His  reply  was  that 
the  appropriations  did  not  allow  of  any  change  of  plan  at  this  time,  and  that 
an  impartial  distribution  of  the  amount  must  be  made  on  the  whole  frontier 
of  the  Atlantic.  The  Secretary  directed  me  to  meet  him  at  Portsmouth  in 
September,  and  also  at  Portland,  to  which  places  he  would  return  from  a 
visit  to  his  farm,  and  other  private  concerns  at  Kennebeck,  that  had  been 
long  neglected. 


78  ,  THE  MEMOIRS    OF 

On  26th  July  proceeded  by  Taunton  to  Newport,  to  examine  the  points 
of  defense  in  that  harbor,  and  recommended  to  the  War  Department  that 
an  enclosed  work  on  the  Dumplin  Rocks  and  at  Coasters'  Harbor  would  be 
a  better  expenditure  of  money  than  to  repair  the  masonry  of  Forts  Wolcott 
and  Adams,  and  then  returned  to  Boston  Harbor  to  await  the  decision 
of  the  Secretary. 

In  the  first  week  of  August,  General  Brooks  and  General  David  Cobb, 
Governor  Gore  and  J.  C.  Jones,  George  Cabot,  H.  G.  Otis,  William  Tudor, 
Josiah  Quincy  and  James  Lloyd,  Esquires,  and  Rev.  Jno.  T.  Kirkland  made 
a  visit  of  inspection  to  the  various  points  in  Boston  Harbor,  by  my 
invitation.  Received  them  under  a  marquee  on  Governor's  Island,  and  on 
25th  of  the  same  month  these  gentlemen,  and  others  of  my  Boston  friends, 
dined  with  me  under  the  same  marquee  pitched  on  the  rampart  of  Fort 
Independence ;  the  chief  object  being  to  witness  some  experiments  in 
throwing  shot  and  shells,  to  indicate  the  range  and  extent  of  the  fire,  etc. 

On  8th  September  met  the  Secretary  of  War  on  the  works  at  Portland, 
and  proceeded  thence  with  him  to  Portsmouth,  and  in  company  with 
Governor  Langdon  and  Captain  J.  B.  Walbach,  agent  of  fortifications,  laid 
off  a  battery  at  Kittery,  to  cooperate  with  the  fire  of  Fort  Constitution. 
On  20th  September  returned  with  the  Secretary  to  Boston  on  his  way  to 
Washington,  and  mine  to  New  Bedford,  with  Lieutenant  S.  Thayer,  to  the 
fort  there. 

Early  in  October  the  Secretary  of  War,  in  reply  to  my  report  on  the 
subject  of  occupying  Connanicut  and  Coasters'  Harbor  in  Narragansett  Bay, 
made  in  July,  directed  that  the  repairs  on  the  old  works  must  first  be 
finished,  which  of  course  was  obeyed,  and  Captain  Lloyd  Bealc,  the 
commandant  of  the  harbor,  the  agent  of  fortifications,  was  instructed 
accordingly. 

On  loth  of  this  month  of  October,  with  a  view  to  arming  the  new  forts, 
and  ijy  orders  from  the  Secretary  of  War,  I  proceeded  to  the  furnaces  in 
Taunton,  and  directed  the  casting  of  24-pounder  shot  at  eighty-two  dollars 
per  ton.  My  early  friend,  Benjamin  Dearborn,  made  the  gauges  at  his 
balance  factory  in  Boston,  using  a  copy  of  the  English  tower  measure  for 


GENERAL  JOSEPH   GARDNER  SWIFT.  79 

dimensions.  On  ist  November,  under  similar  orders  established  workshops 
in  Boston,  for  the  construction  of  gun  carriages  and  other  military  appurte- 
nances for  all  the  forts  in  my  department.  These  ordnance  orders  emanated 
from  Colonel  Burbeck  at  Washing-ton,  and  the  grun  carriages  were  the 
three-wheeled  sea  coast  carriages,  using  the  same  standard  of  measure. 

On  19th  November  made  an  excursion  with  Dr.  Eustis  of  Boston,  to 
Portsmouth,  on  an  inspection  tour.  On  our  way  we  discussed  a  new 
formation  of  the  army,  to  include  a  staff  corps  instead  of  detailing  company 
officers  to  that  service,  and  also  an  enlargement  of  the  Military  Academy, 
introducing  a  school  of  practice  by  a  corps  of  sappers  and  miners.  The 
two  latter  Dr.  Eustis  did  not  approve.  This  gentleman  had  been  a  hospital 
surgeon  in  the  Revolutionary  War,  and  had  had  much  intercourse  with  all 
the  departments  of  the  army  at  that  period,  and  at  the  present  time  may 
have  had  some  expectations  of  going  into  the  War  Department  under  Mr. 
Madison.  The  doctor  had  many  reminiscences  of  the  war,  and  among 
them  of  the  manner  in  which  the  committee  was  formed  at  Newburgh  that 
produced  the  celebrated  letters  of  General  Armstrong.  It  was  done  by  a 
general  meeting  of  the  officers  and  an  open  election  of  three  to  select  a 
writer.  Colonel  Timothy  Pickering  was  a  member  of  that  committee  of 
three,  and  they  appointed  Major  John  Armstrong  to  be  the  composer  and 
writer,  etc.  In  reference  to  the  treason  of  Arnold,  his  escape  from  Beverly, 
near  West  Point,  was  by  the  energy  of  the  coxswain  of  his  barge,  Corporal 
Levy,  who  supposed  they  v.ere  going  upon  an  interview  with  the  British  ; 
that  on  their  arrival  on  board  the  sloop  of  war  Vulture  General  Arnold 
offered  to  make  Levy  a  sergeant-major  in  the  British  service,  with  some 
remark  on  the  cause  of  abandoning  the  American  cause.  Levy  replied 
that  one  coat  was  enough  to  wear,  and  said  to  Dr.  Eustis,  this  reply 
made  Arnold  look  like  a  dog-  with  his  tail  between  his  legs ;  that  the 
commander  of  the  Wilture  commended  Levy  for  sticking  to  his  country, 
and  treated  the  barge  crew  with  good  fare,  and  allowed  them  to  return 
to  West  Point. 

In  this  fall  I  commenced,  by  approval  of  General  Dearborn,  a  water 
battery  at  my  request,   on   the  head  of   Governor's   Island,    to   command, 


8o  THE  MEMOIRS   OF 

or  rather  to  secure  a  raking  fire  in  the  channel  way  in  two  directions,  and 
completed  the  work  by  Christmas,  using  large  blocks  of  Quincy  granite,  and 
without  mortar. 

On  8th  of  the  previous  October  I  accompanied  my  father's  eldest  sister, 
Elizabeth,  to  Long  Meadow  on  the  Connecticut  River,  to  witness  her 
marriage  with  Colonel  Gideon  Burt,  the  service  being  read  by  Rev.  R.  S.  B. 

On  28th  November  removed  my  family  from  Fort  Independence  to 
No.  3  Leveret  Street,  West  Boston,  my  father  and  sister  Sarah  joining 
us  soon  after. 

1809.  On  2d  of  January  commenced  an  inspection  of  the  shot  at  the 
Taunton  foundries.  Found  the  work  novel  to  the  founders,  who  had  much 
difficulty  in  making  the  moulds  to  cast  a  true  sphere,  and  a  solid.  The 
shot  were  improved  in  a  lathe.  Also  I  inspected  and  proved  the  carriages, 
rammers,  sponges,  etc.,  at  the  Boston  workshops. 

In  this  month  I  commenced  a  well  in  Fort  Warren,  on  Governor's  Island, 
and  on  20th  had  attained  a  depth  of  one  hundred  and  thirty-three  feet  —  a 
point  forty  feet  below  the  level  of  the  sea.  Stoned  the  well  sides,  and  in  a 
short  time  it  had  forty  feet  of  water  in  it,  by  filtration  no  doubt. 

At  the  request  of  J.  W.  Walker  and  S.  R.  Jocelyn  of  Wilmington,  N.  C, 
I  examined  the  salt  works  at  Dorchester,  and  employed  Thomas  Mayo  of 
Cape  Cod  to  proceed  to  the  Sound,  near  Wilmington,  where  he  constructed 
similar  vats  for  evaporation.     The  plan  was  very  successful. 

February  ist  attended,  as  pall  bearer,  at  the  funeral  of  my  friend  John 
Gardner's  wife,  the  daughter  of  Jonathan  Jackson,  Esq.  Mr.  Gardner's 
health  failed  rapidly  after  this  event,  antl  he  declined  to  death  in  a  few 
months.  He  was  of  a  warm  heart,  and  a  true  friend.  He  had  Ixen  a 
distinguished  I'^ederalist  and  autlior  of  "Helvetius"  and  other  arguments 
in  defence  of  the  Washington  system  of  conducting  the  government. 

In  the  first  week  of  this  month  I  attended,  by  invitation,  several  meetings 
of  the  Massachusetts  Legislative  Committee  on  Roads  and  Bridges,  to 
consult  on  the  mode  of  executing  their  purpose  to  build  an  e.xperimental 
road  from  Boston  to  Salem,  on  the  English  model. 

March    ist    the    Secretary    of  War,    General    Dearborn,    resigned,    and 


GENERAL  JOSEPH   GARDNER   SWIFT.  8 1 

accepted  the  collectorship  of  Boston.  This  was  the  commencement  of 
breakuig  up  Mr.  Jefferson's  administration.  The  officers  of  the  army  near 
Boston  paid  their  respects  to  this  indefatigable  pubHc  servant,  and  also 
gave  him  a  dinner  at  the  New  Exchange. 

During  the  first  fortnight  in  March  the  condition  of  the  public  works 
permitted  my  serving  as  president  of  a  general  court  martial  at  the  Castle, 
with  officers  of  the  newly  organized  army,  and  (save  Lieutenant-Colonel 
James  Miller)  they  gave  me  more  trouble  than  they  did  service  to  the 
United  States.  Lieutenant  Selleck  Osborne  Judge-Advocate,  a  much  better 
poet  than  soldier,  very  eccentric,  and  of  utter  indifference  to  discipline. 

In  March  Dr.  William  Eustis  was  appointed  Secretary  of  War.  He 
invited  me  to  accompany  him  to  the  War  Office,  which  I  of  course  accepted, 
and  on  23d  of  the  month  arrived  with  him  at  Patrick  Jeffry's  on  Milton 
Hill,  formerly  Madam  Haley's,  thence  the  next  day  proceeded  to  Taunton 
and  lodged  at  my  father's,  and  there  met  General  David  Cobb,  the  former 
aid-de-camp  of  General  Washington,  and  camp  companion  of  Dr.  Eustis; 
thence  to  Newport,  R.  L,  to  inspect  the  forts  in  that  harbor,  and  by  packet 
to  New  York ;  by  stress  of  weather  driven  into  New  London  Harbor,  and 
there  met  Colonel  David  Humphrey  of  the  Revolutionary  Army,  and  also 
formerly  aid  to  Washington  and  an  ambassador  to  Spain.  The  three  dined 
with  George  Hallam,  Esq. ;  thence  by  land  to  New  Haven  in  company  with 
Colonel  Humphrey,  who  gave  us  an  account  of  the  flocks  of  Merino  sheep 
in  Spain,  and  of  his  importation  of  a  number  with  the  hope  of  spreading 
the  breed  in  the  United  States  and  improving  the  manufactories  of  the 
country.  He  gave  many  anecdotes  of  Washington.  At  New  Haven  we 
met  Hon.  Pierrepont  Edwards,  and  visited  the  graves  of  the  regicides  Goff, 
Whalley  and  Dixwell  —  amusingly  emendated  account  of  them  by  Dr.  Styles. 

We  arrived  in  New  York  on  the  last  day  of  the  month,  and  took  lodgings 
at  Mrs.  Loring's,  (the  friend  of  Sir  William  Howe,  who  is  immortalized  by 
Trumbull  the  poet,)  a  lady  of  commanding  deportment,  who  said  she 
recognized  me  from  a  likeness  to  her  schoolmate  in  Boston  of  fifty  years 
gone  by  —  Ann  Foster,  my  grandmother. 

The  next  clay,  with  Colonel  Marinus  Willett  and  others  inspected  Colonel 


82  THE  MEMOIRS   OF 

Williams'  tower  on  Governor's  Island  ;  the  colonel  absent.  Colonel  Willet 
was  communicative  of  the  early  scenes  of  the  Revolution,  and  of  his  own 
experience ;  said  that  in  the  expedition  on  the  Mohawk  he  had  never  met 
an  Indian  who  could  aim  and  fire  a  rifle  as  quick,  or  run  as  fast  as  he  could 
himself.  He  is  a  fine  specimen  of  the  men  of  '76.  On  2d  April  the 
Secretary  of  War  arrived  at  Philadelphia,  and  was  waited  on  by  Hon.  Pierce 
Butler  of  South  Carolina,  on  the  subject  of  some  military  claims.  He  is  a 
gentleman  of  as  much  personal  formality  as  any  one  of  the  house  of 
Ormond  can  be.  We  also  met  the  celebrated  Dr.  Logan  —  quite  a  contrast 
in  personal  deportment.  Here  Colonel  Williams  joined  the  Secretary,  and 
exchanged  some  opinion  on  the  inutiltiy  of  star  forts,  etc.,  and  with  Colonel 
William  Duane,  an  officer  of  the  new  army,  inspected  Fort  Miflin.  Thence 
proceeded  to  Newcastle  and  to  Gadsby's  in  Baltimore,  on  5th  April,  and 
dined  with  General  Samuel  Smith,  Madam  Jerome  Bonaparte  and  Miss 
Nancy  Spear,  a  female  politician  and  very  intelligent  lady.  On  7th  arrived 
at  Washington,  after  inspecting  Fort  McHenry  early  in  the  day.  On  the 
following  day  to  the  War  Ofiice,  to  meet  the  officers  and  subordinates  of 
that  Department,  and  presented  Isaac  Roberdeau  to  the  Secretary  of 
War,  and  recommended  him  to  be  employed  in  the  engineer  department. 
Dined  that  day  with  Mr.  Madison  and  the  Secretary  of  the  Navy,  when  the 
conversation  turned  upon  the  defences  of  Chesapeake  Bay  and  of  River 
Potomac,  which  resulted  in  my  examining  the  site  at  Warburton,  opposite 
Mt.  Vernon,  as  a  point  for  defensive  works.  My  report  was  that  it  was  too 
far  up  the  Potomac  unless  the  mouth  of  the  Patuxeut  be  fortified.  The 
plan  of  building  at  Warburton  was  pursued,  however,  and  Captain  George 
Bumford  the  engineer  thereof. 

Visited  my  uncle  Jonathan  Swift  and  other  friends  in  Alexandria,  and  on 
my  return  to  the  city  of  Washington  dined  at  Mr.  Madison's,  and  was 
presented  by  Mr.  Madison  to  Mr.  Erskine,  the  British  minister,  and 
General  Stewart  of  Maryland.  Mr.  Madison  is  a  very  instructive  person  in 
conversation,  and  fond  of  story  telling.  He  gave  us  reminiscences  of  the 
progress  of  the  government  after  the  peace  of  1783,  and  especially  of 
scenes  in  convention  in  forming  the  Constitution  in   17S7.     On  19th  April 


GENERAL  JOSEPH  GARDNER  SWIFT.  83 

I  returned  to  New  York,  and  with  my  chief,  Colonel  Williams,  examined 
his  towers,  and  I  gave  him  my  views  of  the  inefficiency  of  the  star  defenses 
of  the  New  England  coast,  allowing  them  some  moral  influence  as  indicating 
the  occupation  of  many  points,  and  that  therefore  I  should  prefer  the 
colonel's  towers  as  serving  an  equal  purpose  and  superadding  safety  from 
surprise;  and  a  capability  to  resist  attack  until  the  militia  of  the  country 
could  be  arrayed.  Had  pleasant  meetings  of  officers  at  the  colonel's 
quarters  at  Mrs.  Wilkinson's,  No.  40  Broadway,  and  made  the  acquaintance 
there  of  General  Jacob  Moreton,  distinguished  for  his  hospitality  and  for 
general  intelligence.  Thence  through  the  sound  to  Newport,  and  to 
Taunton  at  my  father's,  where  I  renewed  my  acquaintance  with  my  early 
and  true  friend,  Charles  Leonard,  Esq.,  of  Bermuda,  and  could  but 
regret  that  so  much  talent  as  he  possessed  should  be  wasted  in  a  listless 
life.  On  27th  April  moved  my  father's  family  to  School  Street  Court, 
Boston,  my  brother  William  H.  having  been  sent  to  school  in  New  Hamp- 
shire, at  Charleston,  the  residence  of  my  uncles  Delano  and  Fitch. 

Early  in  May  reported  all  the  works  in  my  department  in  good  progress, 
Lieutenant  J.  G.  Totten  at  Portsmouth  soon  to  come  from  New  Haven, 
Lieutenant  P.  Willard  in  Rhode  Island,  and  Lieutenant  S.  Thayer  at  New 
Bedford;  and  on  ist  June  the  gun  carriages  were  ready  to  be  placed  on 
the  platforms,  and  the  cannon  balls  were  in  process  of  delivery.  The 
appropriations  by  Congress  were,  for  new  works,  four  hundred  and  fifty 
thousand  dollars,  to  finish  those  commenced,  seven  hundred  and  fifty 
thousand  dollars,  and  two  hundred  and  nineteen  thousand  dollars  for 
arsenals,  magazines  and  ammunition.  While  I  was  in  Washington  the 
conversation  there  upon  the  non-intercourse  indicated  the  continuance  of  a 
warlike  feeling  against  England.  Mr.  Madison's  opinion  was  that  no  faith 
could  be  placed  in  the  pretensions  of  either  England  or  France,  both  of 
whom  desired  to  involve  us  in  the  war  with  their  respective  antagonists. 
Thus  the  appropriations  looked  to  an  early  finishing  of  the  coast  defenses. 

The  4th  July  was  quite  a  distinguished  and  marked  celebration  under  a 
canopy  at  the  base  of  Bunker  Hill  in  Charlestown.  Among  the  guests 
were  ex-President  Adams,    Robert  Treat  Paine,   Elbridge    Gerry,    Charles 


84  THE  MEMOIRS   OF 

Gore,  Lieutenant-Governor  David  Cobb,  General  H.  Dearborn  and  others, 
of  whom  several  had  been  in  the  battle  on  the  hill  over  us ;  where  were 
recounted  many  of  the  events  of  that  day  in  1775  on  the  neighboring 
Breed's  Hill,  especially  from  General  Dearborn,  who  commanded  a  company 
in  that  battle,  and  described  the  manner  in  which  a  private  in  his  company 
had  singled  out  Major  Pitcairn  as  he  rode  at  the  head  of  his  battalion,  and 
"brought  the  major  to  the  earth  over  the  crupper  of  his  saddle"  by  an  aim 
and  shot  from  a  long  duck  gun,  the  man  remarking:  "I  wait  until  that 
officer  reaches  a  small  mound  in  front,"  and  then  gave  fire. 

On  5th  July  an  express  came  before  day  to  me  from  Captain  J.  B. 
Walbach,  with  an  account  of  an  explosion  of  an  ammunition  chest  on  the 
rampart  of  Fort  Constitution,  by  which  eight  persons  were  killed  and  others 
wounded,  at  the  salute  on  4th.  The  concussion  had  shattered  the  barrack, 
old  magazine,  etc.,  requiring  my  directions  for  repair,  etc.,  and  wishing  my 
counsel  in  other  matters.  Accordingly  I  proceeded  7th  to  Portsmouth,  and 
arrived  at  Fort  Constitution  in  eight  hours  from  Boston.  The  repairs  were 
completed  by  Captain  Walbach  in  a  few  days  thereafter.  On  examination 
there  was  no  blame  to  be  attached  to  any  one  save  the  poor  corporal  who 
was  among"  the  killed,  and  who  had  permitted  a  too  close  proximity  of  the 
chest,  and  the  slow  match. 

Captain  A.  Eustis,  of  the  army,  accompanied  me  to  the  east  on  a  visit  of 
inspection  of  the  forts  on  the  7th,  I  having  attended  to  witness  his  marriage 
on  6th  to  Rebecca  Sprague,  a  beautiful  creature,  in  the  Episcopal  church 
at  Dedham. 

July  loth  at  Portsmouth,  at  Governor  Langdon's  met  Mr.  Ogilvie,  a 
remarkable  elocutionist  and  improvisator  when  under  the  iniluence  of 
opium;  Shakspeare,  Dryden,  and  Massinger  his  favorite  authors. 

On  29th  July,  with  my  father  and  Julius  H.  Walker,  and  my  brother 
William  H.  and  some  others  who  were  desirous  to  see  the  works  in  the 
harbor  of  Boston,  went  on  an  inspection  of  the  forts,  and  the  next  day 
they  and  my  mother,  sisters  and  other  friends  attended  the  baptism  of  my 
son  Jonathan  Williams  by  Rev.  John   Thornton   Kirkland,   named    for   my 


GENERAL  JOSEPH  GARDNER  SWIFT.  85 

patron,  the  colonel  of  that  name,  and  also  my  father's  brother,  and  The 
Dean,  our  cousin  of  many  rumors. 

On  5th  August  the  army  officers  waited  on  Hon.  John  O.  Adams,  to 
take  leave  on  his  departure  on  the  embassy  to  St.  Petersburg  in  the  ship 
Horace.     He  was  also  saluted  by  all  the  forts  on  his  way  down  the  harbor. 

August  8th  Colonel  Burbeck  arrived  on  ordnance  duty  to  inspect  the 
armament  of  the  new  forts,  especially  the  three-wheeled  carriages  that  bear 
his  name,  and  appointed  to  visit  the  other  works  at  the  East. 

Having  in  contemplation  to  go  to  North  Carolina  after  my  duties  in  the 
eastern  department  are  terminated,  Mrs.  Swift  gave  a  meeting  of  leave- 
taking  to  our  list  of  friends  in  Boston,  and  on  14th  of  August,  with  our  sons 
James  and  Willie,  she  sailed  in  brig  "  Short  Staple,"  Captain  Ingersoll,  for 
Wilmington,  under  the  escort  of  my  friend  Benjamin  Blaney.  Accompanied 
them  to  George's  Island,  and  there,  meeting  the  frigate  Essex,  Captain 
John  Smith,  coming  in,  boarded  her  and  sailed  up  the  ship  channel  by 
Captain  Smith's  invitation,  to  see  the  bearing  that  the  forts  would  have  to  a 
ship  under  way,  etc. 

September  ist,  the  Secretary  of  War  and  Colonel  Burbeck  on  a  tour  of 
inspection  of  the  forts  in  the  harbor  of  Boston  ;  on  which  occasion  I  had 
an  opportunity  to  acknowledge  General  David  Cobb's  kindness  to  nje  in 
my  early  life,  by  introducing  his  grandson,  David  Cobb  Hodges  to  the 
Secretary  of  War,  and  requesting  for  him  an  appointment  in  the  army. 
The  Secretary  engaged  to  see  that  the  wishes  of  his  Revolutionary  comrade 
should  be  accomplished.  On  this  occasion  the  Secretary  handed  me  a  letter 
to  him  from  the  governor  of  North  Carolina,  urging  that  the  plan  of 
defense  for  Oak  Island,  on  Cape  Fear  River,  should  be  constructed  as  I 
had  advised  in  1804,  and  I  stated  to  the  Secretary  that  it  could  be 
executed  for  the  amount  then  estimated,  seventy-five  thousand  dollars. 

During  the  summer,  in  my  excusions  to  the  east,  and  by  invitation  from 
Nathaniel  Bowditch,  Esq.,  made  my  resting  place  at  his  residence  in  Salem, 
at  whi^h  times  I  have  found  him  at  breakfast  time  at  work  upon  the  trans- 
lation of  La  Place's  Mechanique  Celeste.     I  brought  him  and  Professor  F.  R. 


86  THE  MEMOIRS  OF 

Hassler   to    the   acquaintance    of    each    other,    and    interchange    of    their 
respective  notes  and  observations. 

September  5th,  in  presence  of  the  Secretary  of  War  and  Colonel  Burbeck, 
at  the  request  of  the  Secretary  of  the  Navy,  laid  off  upon  the  ground  at 
Charleston  Point  a  magazine  for  that  department,  to  contain  three  thousand 
barrels  of  gun  powder,  and  gave  the  masons  plans  and  instructions  to 
construct  the  same.  Arranged  with  Mr.  Penniman  to  receive  my  brother- 
in-law,  Julius  H.  Walker,  to  complete  his  preparation  to  enter  Harvard 
College ;  have  appointed  with  the  president  to  that  effect  at  the  com- 
mencement on  30th  August,  at  which  time  John  F.  Burgwin  and 
others  with  me  dined  with  the  masters  in  the  old  hall  —  and  according 
to  ancient  usage. 

Cape  Fear  River,  Fort  Johnston,  North  Carolina,' 
January,    1812. 

My  last  dates  were  at  Boston  in  the  month  of  September,  1809,  soon  after 
which  time,  with  the  Secretary  of  War,  I  went  to  the  eastern  part  of  my 
department  upon  a  tour  of  inspection  of  the  closing  work  upon  the  new 
forts  on  the  coast,  and  making  a  call  upon  the  Secretarj^'s  army  companion 
of  the  days  of  '76,  Doctor  Clement  March,  at  Greenland,  we  arrived 
at  Portsmouth.  I  proceeded  to  Fort  Constitution,  leaving  Dr.  Eustis  to 
pursue  his  suit  with  Miss  Caroline  Langdon,  the  beautiful  and  accom- 
plished daughter  of  Woodbury  Langdon,  which  lady  the  doctor  married. 

The  Secretary  made  his  examination  of  the  fort  with  Captain  Walbach 
while  I  repaired  to  the  works  at  Portland.  The  following  week  he  returned 
with  me  to  Boston.  On  our  route  the  Secretary  renewed  the  conversation 
about  my  contemplated  departure  for  Cape  Fear,  and  he  mentioned  another 
petition  that  he  had  received  from  North  Carolina  for  the  erection  of  the 
works  that  had  been  planned  for  Oak  Island  by  me  in  1804  as  a  subject 
that  would  be  embraced  in  the  estimates  for  18 10.  While  the  works  were 
drawing  to  a  close  in  Boston  Harbor  both  the  present  Secretary  and 
ex-Secretary    Dearborn     made    excursions    to    view    these    forts,    and    the 


GENEARL  JOSEPH  GARDNER  SWIFT.  87 

magazines  for  the  Navy  Department  that  were  in  progress  at  Charlestown ; 
and  with  both  of  these  gentlemen,  at  General  Dearborn's  residence  at 
Brinley  Place  in  Roxbury,  we  had  several  meetings  on  the  prospects  of 
the  country,  and  with  a  view  to  defense  of  the  harbors  in  case  of  war. 
By  the  ist  of  October  the  works  in  the  eastern  department  were  closed, 
and  on  9th  reported  my  engineer's  functions  in  the  department  to  be  also 
terminated,  and  placed  the  works  in  Boston  Harbor  under  the  control 
of  Captain  N.  Freeman. 

On  14th  October  gave  orders  to  Lieutenant  S.  Thayer  to  proceed  to 
West  Point  for  the  winter.  My  brother-in-law,  Julius  "H.  Walker  nearly 
prepared  to  enter  Cambridge  College,  and  a  member  of  my  father's 
family  in  School  Street  Court,  in  Boston,  and  in  whose  charge  I  left  my 
furniture,  when,  with  my  books  and  baggage  on  31st  October  was  on  board 
the  brig  "Short  Staple"  at  sea  on  my  passage  to  Carolina,  and  on  ist 
November  passed  near  to  Nantucket,  my  native  place,  not  seen  before  by 
me  in  nineteen  years.  The  day  was  clear  and  my  reflections  not  easily 
described.  At  night  we  put  into  Martha's  Vineyard,  and  in  the  rest  of  the 
sail  along  the  coast  amused  myself  by  keeping  the  ship's  reckoning,  and 
in  observations  for  time,  etc.,  having  with  me  a  circle  of  Borda's  belonging 
to  the  United  States.  On  6th  November  we  were  at  the  New  Inlet  of  Cape 
Fear,  and  landed  on  Federal  Point,  the  proposed  site  for  a  work  recom- 
mended to  the  War  Department  in  1804,  in  my  report  made  at  that 
time.  Thence  proceeded  to  Wilmington  and  found  my  family  in  health  at 
"The  Sound,"  and  remained  there  until  loth  November,  at  which  time 
made  a  temporary  residence  at  Mrs.  Swift's  mother's,  Mrs.  Walker,  in 
Wilmington,  preparatory  to  going  to  Fort  Johnston.  After  an  absence  of 
two-and-a-half  years  find  North  Carolina  but  little  changed  in  aspect  of 
country.  The  best  of  North  Carolina  is  constituted  of  warm  hearts  and  an 
early  flowering  spring.  My  intimacy  with  the  people  of  North  Carolina, 
and  some  acquaintance  with  the  interests  of  the  State  have  grown  with  me, 
and  attached  me  to  both. 

In  December,  1809,  the  Legislature  of  North  Carolina  re-ceded  the  site 
of  Fort  Johnston  to  the  United  States. 


88  THE  MEMOIRS   OF 

On  iith  of  the  month  I  received  orders  from  the  chief  engineer  consti- 
tuting me  the  engineer  for  the  State  coast. 

1810.  In  January,  previous  to  my  professional  excursion  to  the  Harbor 
of  Cape  Fear,  I  renewed,  at  Judge  Wright's,  Mr.  John  Lord's,  the  Hills  and 
other  families  my  social  relations  with  increased  pleasure.  At  one  of  these 
re-unions,  a  numerous  party,  Dr.  Caldwell,  from  the  University  of  Chapel 
Hill,  exhibited  the  declininsf  condition  of  that  colleo^e,  and  the  whole 
company  joined  in  a  subscription  to  improve  the  condition  of  that 
institution,  the  alma  mater  of  several  of  the  younger  persons  of  the  party. 

In  the  course  of  this  month  I  visited  Fort  Johnston  with  Joshua  Pitts, 
General  Smith  and  Mr.  John  Lord,  and  examined  the  boundaries  of  the 
public  land  at  that  place,  and  the  dilapidated  condition  of  the  work,  and 
reported  on  the  same  to  the  War  Department.  Lieutenant  Robert  Roberts 
was  in  this  Board  of  Examination,  and  was  also  the  commandant  of  the 
post.  The  reply  from  the  department  is  that  no  more  would  be  done  at 
that  post  than  occasional  repairs  and  the  construction  of  permanent  barracks. 
With  my  friend  Blaney  visited  the  grave  of  our  departed  companion.  Dr. 
Griffin,  in  the  flower  garden  of  Mrs.  General  Smith. 

In  February,  at  a  deer  hunt  with  a  party  at  Major  Duncan  Moore's,  in 
the  forks  of  the  north-west  and  north-east  branches  of  Cape  Fear  River, 
got  up  some  sixteen  fine  deer.  On  this  occasion  Major  Moore  offered  me 
one  hundred  acres  of  rice  land  on  terms  so  liberal,  (if  I  would  settle  my 
family  in  his  neighborhood,)  that  I  could  not  accept  them  without  incurring 
too  deep  an  obligation,  but  the  liberality  is  not  forgotten. 

March  iSth,  in  company  with  many  gentlemen  from  Wilmington  on  a 
search  for  the  son  of  our  friend,  Samuel  R.  Jocelyn,  on  the  second  day 
the  body  was  found  in  Holly  Shelter  Swamp,  he  having  wandered  thither 
in  a  demented  state,  and  was  chilled  to  death  lying  in  some  four  inches  of 
water.  His  name,  Samuel,  and  recently  married  to  a  daughter  of  Coun- 
sellor Sampson,  of  the  county  of  that  name. 

In  April  I  accompanied  John  R.  London  and  others  to  the  Sound,  on  an 
excursion  to  see  its  adaptation  to  salt-making.  I  gave  these  gentlemen  the 
plan  of  the  works  on  Cape  Cod  that  I  had  received  from  Mr.  Thayer  of 


GENERAL  JOSEPH  GARDNER  SWIFT.  89 

that  place.  No  doubt  that  the  ocean  water  in  this  shallow  sound,  not 
being  freshened  by  rivers,  and  constantly  receiving  the  tide  from  the  sea, 
must  afford  a  good  surface  for  evaporation. 

On  15th  of  the  month  I  received  orders  from  the  War  Department  to 
construct  permanent  barracks  at  Fort  Johnston,  with  funds  to  defray  the 
expenses  thereof,  and  also  orders  to  relieve  Lieutenant  Roberts  in  the 
command  of  that  post. 

The  appropriations  for  the  military  service  of  the  United  States  contem- 
plated two  hundred  and  eighty-three  thousand  dollars  for  fortifications. 
The  previous  construction  of  forts  had  been  deemed  sufficient  to  meet 
any  maritime  aggression.  Little,  therefore,  was  to  be  done  beyond 
some  repairs  and  the  construction  of  permanent  barracks  at  the  various 
posts    in    the    year    18 10. 

Whatever  might  be  the  ultimatum  growing  out  of  the  relations  with 
England  and  France,  all  were  satisfied,  save  Congress,  that  it  would  be  wise 
to  prepare  for  the  worst.  Due  preparation  cannot  be  made  by  such  an 
amount  of  money.  Parties  in  and  out  of  Congress  are  more  engaged  with 
small  distinctions  in  the  merits  of  the  question  of  war  than  by  a  just 
estimate  of  the  objects  that  France  and  England  have  in  reference  to  the 
United  States.  The  former  can  have  no  maratime  views  averse  to  those  of 
the  United  States  that  cannot  be  successfully  opposed  on  the  ocean ;  while 
England  has  a  powerful  navy,  and  claims  the  persumptuous  and  prescriptive 
right  to  rule  on  the  seas,  that,  the  United  States  can  never  admit  "while  the 
stormy  winds  do  blow." 

During  the  past  season  I  had  attended  the  Masonic  Lodge  in  Wilmington, 
having  been  admitted  to  that  fraternity  while  at  West  Point  in  the  year  1802. 
Observing  an  abuse  of  the  test  for  admission,  and  considering  the  objects  of 
the  society,  as  a  secret  society,  not  agreeable  to  the  spirit  of  our  political 
institutions,  I  ceased  to  be  a  member  of  any  Lodge,  though  having  no 
doubt  that  the  conduct  of  the  society  had  ever  been  respectful  of  law,  and 
with  benevolent  purposes. 

I  am  now  preparing  my  family  to  go  to  my  post  at  the  fort,  increased 
in   number  by  a  third  son,  Alexander  Joseph,   born   in   the  house  of  his 


90  THE  MEMOIRS    OF 

grandmother  Walker,  4th  March,  18 10;  but  disappointed  in  means  by  the 
will  of  Mrs.  Swift's  father,  who,  though  intending  to  do  justice,  had  so  left 
his  estate  that,  instead  of  receiving  five  thousand  dollars,  I  was  glad  to 
compound  with  the  son,  James  W.  Walker,  for  one  thousand  two  hundred 
dollars,  payable  in  three  years. 

April  20th,  renewed  my  official  visits  to  the  fort  while  the  commandant  is 
preparing  his  returns  to  obey  the  orders  of  the  War  Department ;  examined 
at  the  workshops  the  gun  carriages  made  on  Colonel  Burbeck's  plans,  and 
condemned  them.  They  are  of  pitch  pine,  but  not  strong  enough  to  resist 
the  concussion  of  a  proof  charge  of  powder.  I  had  reported  these  facts  to 
the  War  Department,  and  also  that  the  works  at  Beaufort,  in  my  command, 
required  seven  cannon  and  carriages  and  a  barrack  magazine,  that  would 
call  for  an  expenditure  of  fifteen  thousand  dollars. 

May  1st,  received  the  command  of  Fort  Johnston  from  Lieutenant  R. 
Roberts,  and  gave  him  receipts  for  the  public  stores.  The  next  day,  with 
the  collector  of  the  port,  examined  the  beach  at  Bald  Head,  and  the 
encroachments  of  the  sea  at  that  place,  and  advised  the  placing  of  facines 
confined  by  piles  of  thirty  feet  in  length,  as  a  protection  against  the  action 
of  the  waves. 

May  15th,  moved  my  family  to  the  fort,  and  at  housekeeping  in  the 
"  Blaney  Place,"  near  the  fort.  June  ist,  deposited  the  United  States 
funds  in  the  Bank  of  Cape  Fear,  and  commenced  the  collection  of  materials 
for  barracks,  etc. 

On  15th  June,  with  the  commissioners  of  the  town  of  Smithville, 
marked  out  the  lines  of  the  United  States  land,  and  set  red  cedar 
posts    for    landmarks. 

During  this  month  of  June  was  employed  with  the  collector  in  arranging 
to  execute  the  law  of  the  United  States  in  reference  to  French  and  English 
vessels  entering  our  ports.  The  first  armed  vessel  that  came  in  was  the 
British  schooner  "Eliza,"  Captain  Bradshaw,  who  landed  his  guns  at 
the    battery. 

June  28th,  a  riot  among  the  pilots  and  the  sailors  of  European  ships,  and 
was  obliged  to  place  some  of  the  most  turbulent  in  the  block-house.     This 


GENERAL  JOSEPH   GARDNER  SWIFT.  91 

occasioned  a  legal  question  as  to  my  authority.  The  necessity  was  made 
apparent,  and  the  court  sustained  my  conduct,  having  a  constable  with  me 
whom  I  had  accidentally  met  on  the  occasion,  and  invited  to  my  aid. 

From  the  great  mobility  of  the  sand  on  the  coast  the  storms  had  produced 
a  variety  of  changes  in  the  form  of  the  large  shoal  near  the  entrance  of 
the  harbor,  called  the  "  Middle  Ground."  I  employed  the  pilots  early,  and 
at  several  times,  in  the  month  of  July,  to  sound  out  and  buoy  the  Oak 
Island  channel,  and  found  thereby  several  changes  in  the  course  of  the 
channel  that  had  been  made  since  my  survey  in  the  year  1804.  During 
these  operations  the  pilots  employed,  (two  of  them,  Davis  and  Cope,)  left 
the  survey  to  board  a  vessel  then  coming  in.  They  had  some  dispute, 
when  Cope  struck  Davis  in  the  bowels  with  a  knife.  The  citizens  of 
Smithville  requested  me  to  confine  Cope  until  the  civil  authority  could 
take  charge  of  him.  He  was  thereupon  confined  in  the  block-house,  which, 
with  all  the  United  States  works,  is  situate  in  the  centre,  and  extending  to 
the  water  front  of  the  town.  This  occasioned  some  disturbance  about  the 
interpolation  of  military  authority,  and  I  was  "excused"  on  the  ground  that 
I  had  done  the  "service  due  from  a  citizen." 

The  4th  of  July  this  year  was  celebrated  with  the  usual  essays,  though  on 
a  very  limited  scale.  The  town  honored  me  with  the  appointment  of  orator 
of  the  day. 

On  3d  of  August,  in  the  presence  of  the  collector  of  the  port,  Robert 
Cochran,  Esq.,  and  General  Smith,  the  proprietor  of  the  island  of  Bald 
Head,  and  others,  Mr.  S.  Spring,  the  keeper  of  the  light-house,  etc.,  surveyed 
and  marked  with  a  theodolite,  ten  (10)  acres,  including  the  site  of  the 
light-house,  and  having  reference  to  the  abrasion  of  the  shore  of  the  sea, 
as  examined  last  May,  I  included  a  wide  sea-beach  margin  on  Bald  Head. 

August  9th,  with  a  theodolite,  above  mentioned,  received  from  Jones  of 
London,  made  observations  that  proved  the  magnetic  variation  at  Fort 
Johnston  at  this  time  to  be  fifty-five  minutes  west  from  the  true  meridian. 

The  August  election  of  State  officers  came  on  this  year  on  9th  of  the 
month.  I  gave  the  troops  a  fishing  excursion  to  Oak  Island  for  that  day, 
with  a  view  to  prevent  any  question  of  "  interference  of  troops  at  the  polls," 


92  THE  MEMOIRS    OF 

in  reference  to  which,  as  an  abuse  of  the  franchise,  much  had  been  said, 
but,  as  far  as  my  experience  extended,  had  never  witnessed  any  such 
interpolation. 

On  1 2th  August  the  United  States  brig  "Nautilus,"  Captain  Arthur 
Sinclair,  came  into  port  in  a  storm  that  had  wrecked  an  English  brig  on  the 
"  Middle  Ground  "  shoal.     Received  the  officers  at  my  quarters. 

On  25th  September  accompanied  Captain  Sinclair  to  sea  for  the  purpose 
of  examining  the  "slew"  through  the  Frying  Pan  Shoal,  which  we  found, 
at  a  distance  of  thirteen  miles  south  of  the  lighthouse,  a  four-fathom  channel 
directly  through  the  Pan,  bearing  east-by-south.  After  a  cruise  of  a  few 
days  the  "Nautilus"  returned  to  anchor  off  Fort  Johnston,  and  finally 
resumed  the  cruise  along  the  coast  on   7th  October. 

During  the  months  of  October  and  November  the  weather  was  excellent 
for  labor,  and  by  ist  December  had  completed  the  brick  barracks  and 
-guard-house,  and  discharged  the  workmen.  Moved  the  troops  into  the 
new  barracks,  much  to  their  comfort. 

December  12th,  by  order  of  the  vSecretary  of  War,  transported  the 
military  stores  from  Wilmington  to  the  block-house  at  the  fort.  These 
appurtenances  had  been  in  the  use  of  12th  United  States  Regiment  of 
Infantry  in  1799,  and  were  stored  in  Wilmington  in  1800. 

Passed  our  Christmas  at  the  wedding  of  our  fair  cousin,  Mary  Vance, 
■with  Mr.  James  Orme,  and  with  my  friends  Alexander  C.  Miller  and  General 
and  Mrs.  Smith  at  Belvidere,  and  at  General  Brown's  seat  at  Ashwood,  on 
the  Cape  Fear,  and  returned  to  the  fort  on  the  last  day  of  18 10. 

181 1.  January  5th,  the  governor  of  the  State  and  suite  inspected  the 
post  of  Fort  Johnston,  and  was  received  with  military  honors. 

Judging  from  the  debates  in  Congress  that  a  more  enlarged  plan  of 
defensive  works  would  be  constructed  on  the  coast,  on  17th  of  this  month, 
with  my  reports  to  the  War  Department  expressed  a  hope  that  I  should  be 
employed  at  some  other  point,  as  very  little  could  be  expected  to  be  done 
on  the  Cape  Fear,  and  also  wrote  my  chief.  Colonel  Williams,  and 
Lieutenant-Colonel  Macomb,  soon  after,  on  that  subject. 

In  February  I  employed  Dr.  Egbert  Haywood  Bell  as  surgeon  of  the 


GENERAL  JOSEPH  GARDNER  SWIFT.  93 

post,  which  was  confirmed  by  the  Secretary  of  War.  The  doctor  is 
distinguished  in  his  profession.  The  family  of  which  he  is  a  member  are 
generally  noted  for  talents;  they  reside  in  the  upper  country  of  North 
Carolina.  During  the  winter  Mrs.  Swift's  sister  Harriet  and  husband, 
Colonel  Osborne,  had  been  members  of  our  family,  and  in  the  spring  they 
moved  to  Salsbury,  when  Mrs.  Swift's  mother  joined  our  family.  Mrs. 
Osborne  Is  not  only  amiable  but  has  also  an  highly  cultivated  mind,  that 
has  contributed  much  to  our  enjoyment.  With  Mrs.  Osborne  we  had 
the  pleasure  to  receive  as  guests  the  father  and  daughter.  Colonel  John 
De  Bernler.  They  were  from  England  ;  and  from  Edward  Jones,  Esquire, 
I  learned  that  this  gentleman,  with  his  brother  Henry,  had  (both)  been 
lieutenant-colonels  in  the  army  of  England,  and  in  command  in  Canada, 
where  they  had  been  suddenly  relieved  from  command,  and  chagrined  by 
the  order,  they  had  both  sold  out  their  commissions,  which  act  was  soon 
succeeded  by  orders  giving  both  of  them  more  distinguished  commands  in 
India.  The  mortification  resulting  from  those  occurrences  may  be  imagined. 
In  the  case  of  Colonel  De  B.  melancholy  was  marked  on  his  face.  Mr. 
Jones,  who  gave  me  this  information,  is  an  Irish  gentleman,  and  has  filled 
the  office  of  attorney-general  of  North  Carolina  with  high  repute.  The 
Colonel  Osborne  before  mentioned  is  the  son  of  Audly  Osborne,  Esquire, 
of  Iredell  County,  North  Carolina,  reputed  to  be  a  son  of  the  family  of 
Leeds,  in  England.  The  colonel  is  a  lawyer  of  much  ability,  and  who, 
with  four  of  his  brothers,  had  received  the  first  honors  of  Chapel  Hill 
College. 

During  the  months  of  February  and  March  flocks  of  pigeons  were  daily 
passing  over  the  fort,  with  a  sound  resepibling  a  gust  of  wind.  Several 
of  these  flocks  were  more  than  a  mile  in  extent,  and  vast  numbers  of 
them  were  destroyed.  Their  roost  was  on  Bald  Head  Island,  where  they 
found  an  abundance  of  acorns,  and  from  whence  sportsmen  brought  many 
thousands  of  these  birds. 

On  1 2th  May  while  at  Wilmington  dining  with  George  Hooper,  Esquire, 
was  summoned  to  the  bed  of  his  son-in-law,  Mr.  James  Fleming,  who  had 
a  few  moments  previous  left  us  at  table,  and  had  been  thrown  against  the 


94 


THE  MEMOIRS   OF 


corner  of  the  brick  market  house  in  town  by  an  unruly  horse.  Mr. 
Fleming's  brains  were  forced  through  the  ears  by  the  concussion,  and  I 
found  him  breathing  with  some  violence,  but  he  was  dead  within  an  hour. 

The  4th  July  was  passed  at  the  seat  of  General  Brown  at  Ashwood,  with 
a  purpose  to  attend  the  marriage  of  my  friend,  Alexander  C.  Miller,  and  the 
general's  daughter,  Miss  Mary  Brown.  The  general  asked  me  of  the 
orio-in,  etc.,  of  Mr.  Miller  ;  my  reply  was  that  all  that  I  knew  of  him  had 
been  received  of  him,  and  to  judge  from  his  uniform  deportment  it  left  me 
no  reason  to  doubt  that  he  had  been  highly  educated,  etc.  Before  leaving 
the  fort,  Lieutenant  Roberts  and  myself  had  set  our  watches  together  and 
arranged  to  have  the  salute  at  the  fort  commenced  at  noon,  and  to  fire  at 
intervals  of  fifteen  seconds.  I  placed  myself  alone  at  the  margin  of  the 
Cape  Fear  River  at  Ashwood,  sixty  miles  distant  from  the  fort,  in  due 
season  to  listen,  and  heard  the  sound  of  distant  cannon,  but  not  at  precise 
intervals.  The  sound  was  that  of  a  puffing,  continuous  sort,  and  I  counted 
only  fourteen  of  them.  My  ear  was  not  more  than  three  inches  above  the 
surface  of  the  water ;  the  day  was  quiet,  and  the  air  from  the  south-west ; 
my  position  in  a  direction  a  little  west  of  north  from  the  fort.  In  the  banks 
of  the  Cape  Fear  at  this  place,  some  seventy  feet  below  the  general  surface 
of  the  country,  I  found  an  abundance  of  shark's  teeth  and  other  organic 
remains  in  the  earth,  washed  by  every  successive  rise  of  the  river. 

I  returned  to  the  fort  on  6th,  and  on  loth  July,  having  received  the  long 
expected  24-pounder  new  cannon,  carriages,  and  six  hundred  round  shot, 
replaced  the  old  guns  by  mounting  the  battery  with  the  eight  new  ones. 

The  appropriations  this  year  for  fortifications  are  four  hundred  and  seven 
thousand  dollars.  These  and  preceding  preparations  may  show  both  France 
and  England  that  our  endurance  of  their  decrees  and  orders  may  find  a 
limit.  Both  nations  seem,  from  our  own  dissensions,  or  contempt  for  us  and 
for  our  form  of  government,  to  consider  our  ability  or  purpose  to  sustain  a 
war  as  of  small  importance  to  them.  Both  parties  in  our  country  greatly 
mistake  their  policy ;  the  Democrats  in  their  evasive  palliations  of  the 
cause  of  France ;  the  Federalists  by  their  efforts  to  prove  that  the  decrees 
and  orders  are  equally  insulting  and  therefore  deserving  equal  resistance. 


GENERAL  JOSEPH  GARDNER  SWIFT. 


95 


They  lose  sight  of  the  hope  of  England  that  we  may  make  some  error  to 
favor  her  pretentions,  and  that  her  superiority  on  the  ocean  gives  her  power 
to  annoy,  and  they  lose  sight  of  the  fact  that  if  we  ever  are  to  assert  our 
rights  on  the  seas,  we  must  commence  to  do  it  while  England  is  practicing 
her  arrogant  power  of  impressment. 

A  letter  from  my  mother  informs  me  of  the  death  of  my' grandmother 
Delano,  at  the  residence  of  her  son  in  the  State  of  New  Hampshire,  at 
Charlestown,  on  3  ist  May,  at  the  age  of  eighty-three  years.  The  letter  also 
informs  of  the  disposition  of  her  property,  and  of  the  end  of  my  e.xpecta- 
tions  of  receiving  something  that  had  been  willed  to  me  by  my  grandfather 
Delano. 

July  I  ith  received  at  the  fort,  Treasurer  Haywood  and  other  o-uests  from 
Raleigh,  who  came  to  look  at  the  ocean,  and  to  be  informed  of  what  plan 
of  defense  might  secure  the  entrance  to  the  most  important  harbor  on 
the  coast  of  North  Carolina,  in  which  the  Legislature  of  the  State  had 
taken  a  deep  interest,  and  here  were  several  of  her  prominent  members  to 
prepare  themselves  to  give  that  body  such  account  of  their  observations  as 
they  could  collect.  It  was  very  evident  that  these  gentlemen  had  no  respect 
for  the  moderate  use  of  naval  power  of  England  in  case  we  should  have  a 
war  with  them. 

In  my  memorandum  of  my  visit  to  Ashwood  I  omitted  to  state  that  there 
stands  a  tree  whose  bark  has  been  marked,  indented  in  the  year  1780,  with 
a  figure  representing  the  Revolutionary  general,  Robert  Howe.  These 
marks  had  been  spread  by  the  growth  of  the  tree,  and  now  exhibits  a 
gigantic  rude  figure  of  a  man  in  military  costume.  This  is  a  result  of  a 
slight  engraving  on  the  bark  of  any  tree,  especially  the  beech,  but  if  the 
indentation  be  deep  the  growth  of  the  bark  covers  the  work  and  so 
obliterates  the  desiofn. 

July  15th  sent  to  Mr.  F.  R.  Hassler,  then  in  England,  or  going  thither,  to 
direct  the  construction  of  instruments  for  the  United  States  coast  survey,  to 
cause  a  telescope  to  be  made  for  me  with  one  eye-piece  for  astronomical 
use,  with  a  power  of  one  hundred  and  seventy-five. 


96  THE  MEMOIRS   OF 

July  20th  received  orders  to  repair  to  Fredericktown,  Maryland,  as  a 
member  of  a  general  court  marshal  to  be  there  assembled  in  September,  for 
the  trial  of  General  Wilkinson. 

August  1st  delivered  the  command  of  Fort  Johnston  to  Lieutenant 
Roberts,  United  States  Artillerj',  and  reported  the  same  to  Lieutenant- 
Colonel  C.  Freeman,  commanding  at  Norfolk,  Virginia.  On  4th  August 
proceeded  to  Raleigh  and  Richmond,  and  passed  some  days  there  with 
Major  Gibbon,  the  hero  of  Stony  Point,  1776,  and  kept  my  appointment 
with  General  Marshall  in  accepting  an  invitation  to  visit  him  while  I  was 
the  guest  of  the  major,  and  found  at  the  general's  a  delightful  assemblage 
of  talent  in  Mr.  Wickham,  Colonel  Gamble,  Colonel  Mayo  and  others, 
that  was  very  tempting  to  prolong  my  stay  among  the  hospitalities  of 
Richmond.  I  soon  after  arrived  at  my  uncle  Jonathan  Swift's,  in  Alex- 
andria, and  then  to  call  on  the  Secretary  of  War  in  Washington.  In 
company  with  Colonel  Williams,  Lieutenant-Colonel  Macomb,  T.  C.  Smith 
and  others,  arrived  at  Fredericktown  the  last  of  August. 

On  first  day  of  September  the  general  court  marshal  assembled.  General 
Wilkinson  came  into  court  with  his  counsel,  Mr.  Taney  and  Mr.  Thomas, 
and  with  eloquent  address  said  to  General  Gansevoort :  "  Mr.  President,  this 
sword  (unclasping  it  from  his  side)  has  been  the  untarnished  companion  of 
my  thigh  for  forty  years,  with  a  resolution  never  to  surrender  it  dishonorably 
to  an  enemy,  I  am  now  by  the  order  of  the  government  of  my  country, 
ordered  to  place  it  in  your  hands,  etc.,"  and  stepping  forward,  handed  the 
sword  to  General  Gansevoort,  who  with  much  simplicity  and  dign  ity,  and 
uncommon  brevity,  replied,  "  General,  I  receive  your  sword.  These  officers 
are  assembled  to  try  you,  and  will  doubtless  do  you  justice.  Are  you  ready. 
General?"  "I  am,"  said  Wilkinson.  "Mr.  Advocate,  General  Walter 
Jones  of  Virginia,  please  to  proceed  with  the  trial." 

The  charges  against  General  Wilkinson  were  numerous,  and  extended 
from  the  year  1789  to  18 10  —  treason,  conspiracy  with  Colonel  Burr, 
corruption  with  the  Spanish  governor  of  Louisiana,  Manuel  Gayozo  de 
Lemos  and  Baron  Carondelet,  disobedience  of  orders,  neglect  of  duty,  etc. 
General  Wilkinson  waived  the  act  of  limitation.     The  court  was  several 


GENERAL  JOSEPH  GARDNER  SWIFT.  97 

days  employed  in  an  argument  whether  the  waiver  of  the  accused  would 
justify  the  court  in  trying  for  offences  charged  beyond  the  limit,  etc.  The 
court  continued  on  this  trial  nearly  four  months.  The  court  acquitted 
General  Wilkinson  of  all  the  charges.  Many  very  queer  transactions  of  a 
political  and  mercantile  character  were  exposed,  but  neither  military  offence 
nor  official  or  personal  corruption,  nor  any  act  of  treason  or  conspiracy 
thereto,  or  with  Colonel  Burr,  were  proved.  In  reference  to  Colonel  Burr, 
no  fact  of  a  treasonable  character  was  established  against  him  in  his  trial 
before  Chief-Justice  Marshall  at  Richmond  in  1807.  It  was  testified  before 
the  general  court  marshal  that  the  expedition  of  Colonel  Burr  had  for  its 
object  the  conquest  of  Mexico,  in  which  no  doubt  General  Wilkinson, 
General  Jackson  and  many  other  prominent  men  of  the  United  States  would 
have  been  engaged  ;  in  fact,  the  purpose  of  such  a  conquest,  to  proceed 
from  the  United  States  was  known  to  General  Hamilton  and  Colonel 
Pickering,  and  to  William  Pitt  and  others  in  England. 

During  the  trial  Colonel  Williams,  Macomb  and  myself  and  other  officers 
renewed  our  pleasant  intercourse  with  the  social  and  hospitable  residents 
of  Fredericktown,  and  in  the  course  of  which  many  ill-natured  and  silly 
rumors  were  circulated  of  an  unbecoming  intimacy  with  the  ultra- Federalists 
of  that  place,  on  the  part  of  the  officers,  and  especially  was  it  censured  that 
General  Wilkinson  should  have  been  invited  to  the  same  parties  where 
were  found  officers  who  were  daily  on  his  trial. 

On  1 6th  September  Colonel  Williams  and  others  observed  the  comet 
that  was  brilliantly  seen  in  the  north  in  this  season,  which  observations  were 
sent  to  Mr.  Garnet  in  New  Jersey,  together  with  others  made  upon  the 
annular  eclipse  the  next  day,  17th.  The  day  was  clear  and  the  observations 
satisfactory. 

October  4th,  I  received  from  Colonel  Williams  an  account  of  the 
barometrical  measurement  of  the  height  of  Catskill  Round  Top,  three 
thousand  five  hundred  and  sixty-six  feet,  and  White  Hills  in  New  Hamp- 
shire, six  thousand  two  hundred  and  thirty-four  feet,  and  other  minor 
points,  by  Captain  A.  Partridge,  United  States  engineers. 

October   loth   made  a  report  of  the  ordnance  and  of  the  defences  that 


98  THE  MEMOIRS  OF 

had  been  completed   in  Smithville,  Fort  Johnston,  to  Colonel  Burbeck,  as 
the  chief  of  artillery,  United  States. 

November  14th.  To  Harper's  Ferry  to  examine  the  workshops  of  the 
United  States  arms,  and  to  explore  Jefferson's  Rock  there  with  Lieutenant- 
Colonel  Macomb,  and  the  next  day  to  measure  the  barometrical  height  of 
the  Colocton  Mountain ;  broke  our  instrument ;  the  view  admirable  ;  counted 
some  two  hundred  and  seventeen  cultivated  fields.  These  excursions  were 
pending  adjournments  of  the  court.  Among  Macomb's  and  my  excursions 
we  several  times  visited  Monsieur  Payer,  or  Vaneaudier,  an  emigrant  from 
France,  who  with  his  family  had  erected  a  chateau,  of  style  similar  to  such 
buildings  in  France.  They  were  living  in  genteel  elegance,  but  maintained 
a  species  of  incognito  that  no  one  was  allowed  to  question  —  a  sort  of 
nonsense  that  is  very  striking  and  romantic  to  young  people. 

November  17th,  Colonel  Williams,  Lieutenant-Colonel  Macomb,  Major 
Armistead  and  myself  sent  our  opinion  of  the  bill  for  the  improvement  of 
the  corps  of  engineers  to  the  Secretary  of  War.  It  embraced  a  corps  of 
sappers  and  miners. 

The  general  court  martial  brought  its  proceedings  to  a  close  on  24th 
December,  and  every  member  signed  the  same,  and  they  were  sent  by 
an  officer  to  the  Secretary  of  War  at  Washington.  The  members  of  the 
court  soon  dispersed,  and  on  26th  December  I  paid  my  respects  to  the 
Secretary  of  War,  Washington,  and  found  myself  not  as  graciously  received 
as  was  the  wont  of  that  gentleman,  who  had  favored  me  with  his  intimacy. 
I  also  found  in  this  place  of  large  gossip,  especially  so  in  the  time  of  the 
session  of  Congress,  that  the  acquittal  of  General  Wilkinson  was  received 
with  disappointment  by  the  executive,  and  it  was  rumored  that  some 
charges  had  been  made  by  an  underling  of  the  War  Department  adverse  to 
the  impartiality  of  some  of  the  older  officers  on  the  court,  but  that  Mr. 
Madison  would  not  consent  to  any  such  mode  of  impugning  the  right  of 
opinion,  and  thus  the  charges  were  suppressed. 

The  sentiment  among  congressmen  was  of  a  conflicting  nature  on  what 
were  to  be  the  results  of  debates  upon  the  orders  and  decrees  of  England 
and  France.     Receiving  from  the  War  Department  no  especial  orders  for 


GENEARL  JOSEPH  GARDNER  SWIET.  99 

duty,  I  returned  to  my  family,  then  in  Wilmington,  North  Carolina.  I  still 
retained  my  quarters  at  Fort  Johnston,  where  I  found  the  family  of 
Lieutenant  Roberts  in  deep  distress,  he  having  died  in  the  previous  month 
of  November.  I  had  written  to  the  Secretary  of  War  to  have  his  accounts 
settled,  in  order  to  pay  off  his  debts  and  afford  some  relief  to  his  family, 
and  this  was  accomplished.  On  my  return  to  North  Carolina  from  Wash- 
ington I  was  informed  that  the  daughters  of  my  friend  Major  Gibbon,  of 
Richmond,  were  at  their  uncle  Duvale's,  in  Washington,  and  had  just 
received  the  mournful  account  of  the  destruction  of  the  theatre  in  Rich- 
mond on  26th  December,  in  which  their  brother,  Lieutenant  Gibbon  of  the 
navy,  had  been  one  among  the  seventy  burned  to  death  in  that  fire.  I  waited 
on  these  ladies,  and  escorted  them  to  their  father's  in  Richmond,  and  met  a 
scene  of  distress  that  cannot  easily  be  described ;  and  early  in  January 
reached  my  family  in  Wilmington. 

Wilmington,  North  Carolina, 
February,  18  ij. 

18 1 2.  At  the  close  of  January  arrived  at  the  fort  with  my  family,  and 
found  there  Lieutenant  J.  Ewing  of  the  United  States  Artillery,  with  orders 
to  report  to  me  for  duty.  Received  from  him  a  box  of  public  papers,  being 
the  unsettled  accounts  of  Lieutenant  Roberts  with  the  United  States,  with 
good  and  imperfect  vouchers  amounting  to  fourteen  thousand  eight  hundred 
dollars.  Sent  these  papers  to  the  account  office  in  Washington,  claiming  as 
balance  due  on  them  eight  hundred  and  twenty-eight  dollars  and  twenty- 
seven  cents,  and  one  hundred  and  forty  dollars  on  a  recruiting  account. 
The  auditor  replied  that  the  claim  cannot  be  allowed  until  further  vouchers 
be  found. 

February  ist,  gave  orders  to  Lieutenant  Ewing  to  detail  a  party  to  work 
daily  m  the  block-house,  cleaning  the  arms,  etc.,  received  there  in  the 
previous  year.  This  was  in  pursuance  of  orders  received  from  the  War 
Department,  together  with  the  appointment  of  myself  as  military  agent  for 
the  coast  of  North  Carolina,  and  was  the  first  intimation  in  orders  of  haste, 
in  preparation  for  war ! 


lOO  THE  MEMOIRS    OF 

Februar)-  21st,  the  United  States  brig"  Vixen,"  commanded  by  Lieutenant 
Charles  Gadsden,  arrived  at  Fort  Johnston  on  public  business  with  me. 

In  March  I  received  orders  from  the  Secretary  of  War  that  the  state  of 
public  affairs  required  an  inspection  of  the  fortifications  on  the  coast  of 
Virginia,  the  two  Carolinas  and  Georgia,  and  requiring  me  to  make  the 
same  as  soon  as  my  present  duty  permitted. 

On  1st  April  proceeded  on  this  inspection  in  the  packet  to  Charleston, 
South  Carolina,  (at  the  same  time  escorting  the  daughter  of  Colonel 
De  Bernier  on  a  visit  to  her  friends  in  South  Carolina.  This  lady  is  the  wife 
of  Harper  Harper,  Esquire,  of  Wilmington,)  leaving  the  command  of  Fort 
Johnston  to  Lieutenant  Ewing.  Bad  weather  delayed  my  arrival  at 
Charleston  to  6th  April. 

The  next  day,  7th,  inspected  Fort  Johnson  on  James  Island,  and  the  day 
following,  the  Palmetto  Fort  of  1780,  now  called,  for  its  brave  defender 
then,  "  Fort  Moultrie,"  and  heard  from  General  Pinckney  the  storj-  of 
Sergeant  Jasper's  heroism  in  that  defense  and  repulse  of  Admiral  Parker. 
By  invitation,  the  day  after,  met  the  two  Generals  Pinckney  on  the  subject 
of  the  defenseless  state  of  the  coast,  from  the  Chesapeake  to  Tybee.  The 
elder  general,  C.  C.  Pinckney,  commented  on  the  recent  laws  appropriating 
seven  hundred  and  ninety-six  thousand  dollars  for  fortifications,  and  pro- 
viding for  calling  out  one  hundred  thousand  militia,  and  the  organization 
of  a  quartermaster-general's  department  as  convincing  to  him,  though  not 
in  the  secret  of  the  cabinet,  that  war  was  at  hand. 

On  I  ith  examined  Castle  Pinckney,  and  on  13th  proceeded  to  Savannah, 
and  with  Captain  William  McRee,  United  States  engineer,  examined  Forts 
Jackson  and  Tybee  on  15th.  On  i6th  returned  through  the  Sound,  and  on 
17th  examined  Beaufort,  South  Carolina;  arrived  on  20th  at  Charleston;  on 
24th  at  Fort  Johnston,  North  Carolina,  and  found  letters  with  Lieutenant 
Ewing  from  the  War  Department  advising  my  postponing  a  visit  to  the 
fort  at  Beaufort,  North  Carolina,  imtil  after  my  inspection  at  Norfolk,  in 
Virginia.  After  inspecting  Oak  Island  and  the  New  Inlet  with  Lieutenant 
Ewing,  I  proceeded  to  Wilmington,  on  ni)-  way  to  Washington,  with  A.  F. 
McNeill,  Esq.,  as  far  as  Warrenton,  where  his  daughter  Mary  was  at  Mr. 


GENERAL  JOSEPH  GARDNER  SWIFT.  loi 

Mordecal's  school.  Leaving  Wilmington  on  ist  May,  on  7th  arrived  at 
Petersburg,  and  viewed  the  Appomattox  River  below  the  town,  also  the 
"Punch  Bowl  of  Pocahontas,"  and  by  the  Isle  of  Wight  county  arrived  at 
Norfolk  on  loth.  The  following  day,  with  Colonel  Freeman,  the  com- 
mandant of  the  post.  Commodore  S.  Decatur  and  L.  W.  Tazuell,  Esquire, 
examined  the  harbor  of  Norfolk,  having  reference  to  the  expected  war  with 
England ;  wrote  to  my  chief.  Colonel  Williams,  my  views  of  defending  this 
harbor,  and  by  a  packet  from  Norfolk  to  England  wrote  F.  R.  Hassler  to 
procure  for  me  one  of  Troughton's  circles  of  reflection.  The  following  day, 
13th,  examined  the  navy  yard  and  Hospital  Point  with  Lieutenant  Thomas 
R.  Swift  of  the  United  States  marines,  and  found  him  to  be  a  far-removed 
cousin;  consulted  also  with  Captain  Evans,  of  the  navy,  on  Norfolk 
defenses,  and  found  him  a  very  highly  informed  person,  whose  opinions 
I  respect. 

On  15th  proceeded  up  the  bay  by  packet,  to  Baltimore,  and,  after  an 
inspection  of  Fort  McHenry  on  20th  took  the  stao-e  for  Washino-ton.  A 
fellow-passenger  observing  me  reading  a  work  of  Dr.  Doddredge  expressed 
his  good  opinion  of  the  book.  He  was  Hon.  James  Millman,  on  his  way 
to  Congress  from  Philadelphia.  That  has  commenced  a  pleasant  acquaint- 
ance. Arrived  in  Washington  the  same  day  in  season  to  attend  the  levee 
of  Mr.  Madison,  and  to  arrange  joining  the  mess  of  the  Hon.  Samuel 
Smith  of  Maryland,  Nicholas  Gilmore  of  New  Hampshire,  and  Charles 
Goldsborough  of  Maryland,  at  O'Neal's.  At  breakfast  the  followino- 
morning  the  conversation  was  upon  the  effect  of  the  embargo  law  recently 
passed.  A  majority  of  the  mess,  including  John  Polk,  Esq.,  of  Kentucky, 
were  adverse  to  war,  but  in  favor  of  ample  preparations,  as  for  instance, 
the  fortifications,  the  corps  of  engineers,  and  the  ordnance  department. 

On  2 1  St  made  my  report  to  the  War  Department  upon  my  inspections  in 
Georgia,  South  and  North  Carolina,  Virginia  and  Maryland,  and  dined  with 
the  President  at  a  private  dinner  on  23d,  when  he  expressed  the  highest 
respect  for  the  patriotism  of  General  Pinckney,  and  for  his  eminent  ability. 
I  commended  to  the  President  Major  Duncan  Moore  and  A.  F.  McNeill, 
Esq.,  as  in  every  way  worthy  of  the  attention  of  the  government  for  military 


I02  THE  MEMOIRS   OF 

service.  A  regiment  was  at  my  command  if  I  so  desired.  I  preferred  the 
prospect  in  my  own  corps,  and  mentioned  the  chief  of  my  corps  as  in 
every  point  of  view  worthy  an  elevated  command  in  the  new  organization 
of  the  army,  etc. ;  with  the  Secretary  of  War,  and  met  there  the  notorious 
Jacob  Lewis,  making  pretensions  to  mihtary  and  naval  command  combined ; 
a  man  of  many  words,  and  of  no  consequence.  The  Secretary  gave  me 
orders  to  return  to  South  Carolina  and  report  for  duty  to  General  Thomas 
Pinckney  via  Norfolk.  On  26th  dined  with  Hon.  William  Lowndes  and 
Colonel  George  Izard,  my  former  captain  at  West  Point,  and  discussed  the 
probability  of  a  campaign  into  Canada,  and  the  mode  and  route.  The 
Colonel  was  for  Quebec,  Mr.  Lowndes  was  for  not  going  into  Canada  at  all, 
and  my  idea  was  to  organize  a  campaign  in  Lake  Champlain  and  divide  the 
two  Canadas,  etc. 

On  3d  June  took  leave  of  the  mess  at  O'Neal's,  where  I  left  Mr.  Curtis 
and  Colonel  Lloyd  Halsey  of  Rhode  Island,  and  his  daughter,  and  via 
Baltimore  and  the  Bay  arrived  at  Norfolk  on  8th.  There  gave  Colonel 
Freeman  a  requisition  on  the  War  Department  for  the  quartermaster- 
general  to  supply  intrenching  tools,  etc.  From  Fort  Nelson  I  sent  orders 
to  Captain  William  McRee  in  Savannah,  and  Captain  John  Niex  at 
Beaufort,  in  North  Carolina,  to  prosecute  the  works  at  those  places  with  all 
the  means  in  their  control.  Wrote  to  Major  W.  H.  Armistead  at  West  Point 
to  advise  me,  through  Colonel  Williams,  of  the  condition  of  the  Military 
Academy.  This  was  done  in  consequence  of  letters  from  the  colonel  that 
evinced  some  disgust  at  the  neglect  of  the  War  Department. 

On  1 2th  June  by  Petersburg,  and,  meeting  Mr.  Miller  at  Mr.  Mordecai's, 
in  Warrenton,  arrived  at  Fort  Johnston,  Cape  Fear,  on  19th,  having  with 
me  the  amount  as  exhibited  on  the  auditor's  statement  of  differences,  and  I 
disbursed  the  same  (one  thousand  three  hundred  dollars,)  among  the 
creditors  of  Lieutenant  Roberts,  saving  the  amount  due  to  Benjamin  Blaney 
and  myself.  Loss  of,  and  imperfect  vouchers,  and  want  of  books,  have 
deprived  Lieutenant  Roberts'  family  of  much  of  his  claim. 

The  day  after  my  arrival  at  the  fort  was  joined  by  Captain  Dent  of  the 
United   States  navy,   and    employed    in   arranging  to  proceeed    to    South 


GENERAL  JOSEPH  GARDNER  SWIFT.  1 03 

Carolina.  On  26th  June,  with  orders  from  both  Navy  and  War  Depart- 
ment, Captain  Dent  and  myself  proceeded  to  sea  in  a  whale-boat ;  overtaken 
by  a  gale  of  wind  and  driven  into  Little  River  through  the  surf  on  the  bar, 
and  thence  on  horseback  to  Georgetown,  where  we  met  the  eccentric 
Colonel  Peter  Harney  in  his  cottage,  formed  after  the  fashion  of  a 
ship's  cabin.  He  was  full  of  patriotic  feeling  on  reading  the  declaration  of 
war  that  Captain  Dent  and  myself  had  received  at  Fort  Johnston,  North 
Carolina,  and  the  colonel  expedited  our  journey  to  Charleston  on  29th. 
On  the  30th  June  reported  myself  to  General  T.  Pinckney,  as  chief 
engineer  of  his  department  of  the  army. 

July  1st,  commenced  tours  of  inspection  with  General  Pinckney,  in  which 
he  associated  his  brother,  C.  C.  Pinckney,  and  the  governor,  Henry 
Middleton,  and  at  my  request  Captain  William  McRee.  The  subject  at 
first  was  the  association  of  the  militia  under  Colonel  John  Rutledge  for 
coast  defense,  with  the  Eighteenth  Regiment  of  United  States  Infantry, 
Colonel  William  Drayton,  and  Lieutenant  J.  Hamilton,  adjutant.  Several 
of  these  consultations  were  held  at  Mrs.  Horry's,  the  sister  of  the  Generals 
Pinckney ;  a  lady  of  extensive  knowledge  with  great  simplicity  of  manner ; 
and  I  observed  that  both  of  her  brothers  paid  great  respect  to  that  lady's 
opinion  on  every  public  subject  discussed  in  her  presence. 

At  this  time  a  singular  occurrence  gave  the  character  of  some  of  our 
newly-appointed  officers.  By  the  general's  order,  I  sent  an  order  to 
Colonel  Welborn  and  Colonel  Pickens,  then  at  Salsbury,  North  Carolina. 
These  gentlemen  acknowledged  the  receipt  of  the  order,  but,  from  some 
view  they  had  taken,  said  "they  had  concluded  not  to  obey  the  order,  and 
to  divide  the  responsibility  between  them."  They  were  arrested,  but  on 
explaining  restored. 

The  last  of  the  month  of  July  made  an  excursion  to  Fort  Johnston, 
North  Carolina,  and  returned  to  Fort  Moultrie  loth  August jwith  Lieutenant 
Ewing,  and  also  my  man  Jack  and  my  horses.  Since  20th  July  had  been 
performing  the  combined  duties  of  chief  engineer  and  of  aid-de-camp  to 
General  Pinckney,  having  in  the  same  period  received  my  promotion  to 
lieutenant-colonel  of  engineers,  on    the   promotion  of   Lieutenant-Colonel 


I04  THE  MEMOIRS    OF 

Macomb  to  the  command  of  a  regiment  of  artillery.  I  found  on  my  table 
at  headquarters  letters  from  Washington,  advising  of  the  resignation  of 
Colonel  Williams,  but  no  order  signifying  my  consequent  advancement. 
This  resignation  of  Colonel  Williams  was  Induced  by  the  neglect  of  the 
War  Department  In  selecting  general  officers  for  the  new  army.  A  subor- 
dinate position  of  brigadier  was  mentioned  for  the  colonel  —  he  did  not 
choose  to  accept.  I  notified  the  corps  of  engineers  of  the  great  loss  we 
had  sustained  In  the  retirement  of  our  friend  and  commander,  and  accom- 
panied the  same  with  my  views  of  a  suitable  arrangement  of  the  respective 
officers  to  various  posts  of  duty,  which  would  be  Issued  In  orders  as  soon 
as  the  War  Department  sent  me  official  notice  of  the  event ;  which  notice 
was  received  on  19th  August,  on  which  day  I  notified  Captain  William 
McRee  to  report  himself  to  General  PInckney  on  28th  of  that  month,  and 
assume  the  chief  englneership  of  the  southern  department,  and  also  orders 
to  Lieutenant-Colonel  Armistead  to  report  to  me  In  season  to  meet  me  in 
Washington  before  the  last  of  October. 

Was  necessarily  detained  in  General  PInckney's  department,  to  close  up 
the  public  business  in  my  two  departments,  until  the  last  of  September, 
when  I  took  my  leave  of  General  PInckney,  in  whom  I  had  found  a  wise 
and  discreet  commander,  a  gentleman  of  moderate  and  firm  mind,  and  of 
all  those  qualities  that  constitute  an  accomplished  gentleman ;  and  of  whom 
it  is  also  said  that  In  character  and  manner  he  resembles  General 
Washington  more  than  any  man  at  this  time  living.  His  brother.  Coats- 
worth,  a  most  delightful  companion  and  Intimate  with  Washington,  said 
he  was  his  brother  Tom's  model.  Neither  of  them  credited  the  story  of 
Washington  swearing  at  Lee  at  Monmouth. 

On  4th  October  arrived  at  Fort  Johnston,  North  Carolina,  on  my  route  to 
the  city  of  Washington,  and  there,  by  appointment,  met  General  Thomas 
Brown  of  Ashwood,  to  arrange  with  him  the  mode  of  calling  out  the  militia 
of  the  State,  under  the  order  of  the  governor,  to  guard  the  coast  on  the 
plan  adopted  by  General  PInckney.  Reported  the  result  of  this  Interview 
to  the  last-named  gentleman;  occupied  a  few  days  in  arranging  my  official 
affairs  at  the  fort,  and  on  10th  October  left  Lieutenant  Ewing  In  command. 


GENERAL  JOSEPH  GARDNER  SWIFT.  105 

and,  having  arranged  for  my  family  to  move  to  Wilmington  at  the  close  of 
the  season,  proceeded  with  my  man  Jack  to  Fayetteville  on  the  14th.  The 
next  day  wrote  General  Pinckney  my  views  of  the  mode  in  which  General 
Thomas  Brown  would,  under  the  governor  of  the  State,  execute  his  plan 
(General  Pinckney's)  to  embody  the  militia  at  the  coast.  In  the  night  at 
nine  o'clock  proceeded  in  the  stage  to  the  north.  At  midnight,  while  cross- 
ing the  Cape  Fear  near  Averysborough,  our  heedless  driver  discovered  that 
the  water  had  risen  during  the  day,  and  we  found  the  stage  floating  and  the 
horses  swimming.  Fortunately  the  stage  wheels  caught  in  the  branches  of 
a  tree  called  a  planter.  I  took  off  my  upper  garments  and  succeeded  in 
cutting  clear  from  the  harness  one  of  the  wheel  horses,  and  with  the  aid  of 
my  man  Jack  and  this  horse  we  saved  the  passengers  and  United  States 
mail  and  part  of  the  baggage,  when  the  stage  swung  clear  of  the  planter 
and  was  swept  down  the  river,  drowning  the  three  other  horses.  The 
distance  from  the  stage  to  the  bank  of  the  river  was  about  twenty  yards. 
The  passengers  arrived  at  Averysborough  about  daylight,  and  there  dried, 
their  clothing  and  such  baggage  as  had  been  saved,  and  thankful  to  God 
for  deliverance  from  peril.  At  this  place  the  succeeding  stage  from  the 
south  brought  Langdon  Cheeves  and  John  Galliard,  Esquires,  from  South 
Carolina,  on  their  way  to  Congress ;  the  former  a  native  of  Ireland,  came  a 
boy  to  Pennsylvania,  and  by  his  own  powers  became  a  very  distinguished 
counsellor,  and  moved  to  South  Carolina.  As  a  traveling  companion, 
sociable  and  full  of  wit,  he  gave  us  recitations  pathetic  and  ludicrous, 
to  make  the  lumbering  way  short.  This  meeting  commenced  a  very  agree- 
able acquaintance  with  him.  Mr.  Galliard  is  from  an  old  Huguenot  family, 
not  brilliant  nor  strong  but  of  unassuming  good  sense,  a  gentleman  of  bland 
and  kind  deportment.  I  found  him  to  be  a  relative  of  the  wife  of  Professor 
Hassler  of  the  coast  survey.  Our  party  arrived  at  Washington  on  21st 
October.  The  War  and  Navy  Departments  much  employed  in  reference  to 
the  supplies  called  for  by  law,  the  former  department  especially  in  procuring 
the  ordnance  stores  with  the  one  million  dollars  appropriated  therefor,  and 
with  a  very  capable  officer  at  the  head — Major  D.  Wadsworth,  aided  by  Cap- 
tain Bumford  ;  and  also  in  filling  vacancies  in  the  thirteen  newly  appointed 


lo6  THE  MEMOIRS   OF 

regiments,  and  fifty  thousand  volunteers.  In  my  department,  estimates  for 
the  coming  year,  in  addition  to  five  hundred  thousand  dollars  recently  appro- 
priated are  needed,  to  which  work  I  immediately  went  by  examining  the 
reports  of  my  late  chief,  Colonel  Williams,  and  Lieutenant-Colonel  Macomb, 
and  gave  the  estimate  to  the  Secretary  of  War  amounting  to  four  hundred 
and  ninety-seven  thousand  dollars,  exclusive  of  any  field  works  which  might 
be  called  for  in  any  campaign,  referable  to  the  quartermaster-general 
department. 

At  the  request  of  General  W.  H.  Harrison,  sent  an  order  to  Captain  E. 
D.  Wood  to  join  the  general  as  an  aid-de-camp  at  Cincinnati  as  well  as  his 
engineer.  From  the  time  of  my  leaving  West  Point  in  November,  1807, 
I  had  been  without  account  of  the  progress  of  the  Military  Academy 
save  the  cursory  views  given  in  the  letters  of  Colonel  Williams  and  Major 
Armistead,  accordingly  I  wrote  to  Captain  Partridge  for  a  full  report  thereof. 
My  name  was  now  before  the  United  States  Senate  to  fill  the  vacancy  of 
chief  engineer.  On  loth  November  General  Samuel  Smith  and  Governor 
Gilman  of  the  Senate  informed  me  that  Dr.  Eustis  was  privy  to  a  plan  to 
supercede  me  in  that  office,  by  appointing,  under  the  provisions  of  the  law 
to  promote  without  regard  to  rank,  and  that  Robert  Fulton,  the  distinguished 
civil  engineer,  was  the  candidate  that  he  preferred.  This  sacrifice  of  the 
continued  intimacy  between  the  doctor  and  myself  may  have  been  just  in 
estimating  the  relative  ability  of  Mr.  Fulton  and  myself,  but  it  met  no 
support  from  Mr.  Madison,  and  both  General  Smith  and  Governor  Gilman 
state  that  my  nomination  passed  unanimously  4th  December,  1812,  ami  with 
expressions  from  senators  commending  nomination,  etc.  Whether  the  dis- 
appointment that  the  acquittal  of  General  Wilkinson  produced  had  any  inllu- 
ence  in  this  matter  I  have  not  the  means  of  knowing  with  certainty,  but  it  is 
certain  that  from  the  date  of  that  acquittal  the  deportment  of  Dr.  Eustis  was 
less  friendly  than  previously.  Early  in  December  the  doctor  resigned  the 
War  Department  of  his  administration,  for  the  foregoing  causes.  I  omit 
remarks  upon  his  official  course.  The  slanders  at  Washington  about  an 
undue  partiality  on  the  part  of  four  members  of  the  court  that  tried  General 
Wilkinson  had  been   traced  to  Mr.  Simmons  of  the  War  Department,  and 


GENERAL  JOSEPH   GARDNER  SWIFT.  107 

referred  to  parties  and  feuds  in  the  army  that  commenced  between  General 
Wayne  and  General  Wilkinson.  In  the  consultations  of  the  court  such 
gossip  had  very  properly  no  influence.  At  Washington,  however,  now,  in 
December,  181 2,  more  rational  views  of  the  matter  had  commenced  in  the 
cabinet,  where  all  but  one  said  that  "  if  General  Wilkinson  had  been  indis- 
creet, the  testimony  before  the  court  was  not  of  a  character  to  justify  a 
verdict  of  guilty."  The  war  was  commenced  and  it  was  needful  to  make 
the  best  use  of  our  few  officers  of  any  experience,  and  it  is  observable  at 
Washington  that  as  trouble  presses,  military  men  have  become  more 
important  than  previously  in  the  estimation  of  members  of  Congress,  to 
judge  from  their  speeches  and  personal  deportment  to  officers  on  the  floor 
and  in  the  lobbies  of  the  hall. 

In  this  month  of  November  Commodore  Stewart  gave  a  gala  on  board 
the  frigate  Constellation,  then  lying  before  Washington.  The  President 
and  heads  of  departments  and  many  others  witnessed  this  exhibition  of  that 
fine  frigate.  Many  members  of  Congress  had  never  before  seen  a  "  man  of 
war."  This  is  a  very  sensible  piece  of  tact  on  the  part  of  Stewart  to  over- 
come the  influence  of  Mr.  Gallatin,  who  was  of  the  opinion  in  the  cabinet 
that  our  ships  should  be  laid  up  in  safety.  Thanks  to  Stewart,  Bainbridge 
and  Mr.  Madison,  such  counsel,  however  patriotic,  was  neglected,  and  Hull 
captured  the  Guerrier,  and  now  on  8th  December  I  had  the  pleasure  to  be 
present  at  a  ball  given  in  honor  of  Hull,  where  we  had  a  second  trophy 
scene.  Lieutenant  Hamilton  in  the  name  of  Commodore  Decatur  laid  the 
flag  of  the  Macedonian  at  the  feet  of  Mrs.  Madison.  With  characteristic 
delicacy  this  lady  said,  "  raise  the  flag;  such  a  humiliation  is  not  due  to  a 
conquered  foe." 

At  the  close  of  the  month  received  letters  from  my  family  informing  of 
the  birth  of  my  son  Thomas  Delano,  at  the  residence  of  his  grandmother 
Walker  in  Wilmington,  23d  November,  1S12. 

November  2  2d  sent  to  Major  Gibbon  and  General  Marshall  at  Richmond, 
and  to  General  Pinckney  in  South  Carolina,  maps  and  descriptions  of  the 
points  of  opening  war  on  the  lakes,  etc.,  etc. 

Wrote  to  Colonel  Williams  iSth  December  of  my  having  orders  to  return 


loS  THE  MEMOIRS  OF 

to  Carolina  for  the  winter,  and  enclosed  his  son's  (Alex.  I.'s)  commission  in 
the  army.  On  i  "th  December  sent  orders  to  Captain  Partridge  in  reference 
to  opening  the  Militar}-  Academy  next  spring,  and  with  orders  to  Lieuten- 
ant-Colonel Armistead,  Major  McRee  and  Major  Bumford,  Captains  Willard, 
J.  G.  Totten  and  S.  Babcock,  Lieutenants  Thayer,  De  Russy,  Cutbush,  Lewis 
and  Findley  to  be  ready  to  take  the  field  early  in  the  spring,  and  also  sent 
them  their  commissions.  The  same  evening  waited  on  the  President  to 
introduce  Colonel  Wadsv.-orth  and  to  consult  on  the  services  of  our  respec- 
tive departments.  A  very  interesting  conversation,  Mr.  Madison  being  in 
favor  of  a  total  change  in  militar)-  operations  for  the  next  campaign. 

Received  a  present  from  Colonel  Oilman  of  New  Hampshire  of  a  silver 
drinking  tube  for  the  wounded. 

December  2 2d  wrote  Governor  Turner  of  North  Carolina  on  the  defenses 
of  Cape  Fear,  at  his  request,  to  be  laid  before  the  Legislature  of  that  State, 
Proceeded  to  Wilmington  and  Fort  Johnston,  North  Carolina,  and  arrived 
there  on  30th  December,  1812. 

Before  leaving  Washington  I  observed  that  great  difference  in  opinion 
prevailed  among  the  prominent  men  there,  the  President  being  in  favor  of 
a  change  in  our  plans  of  operation  upon  Canada,  while  others  thought  the 
Detroit  system  the  preferable  direction  of  attack.  A  species  of  apathy  that 
it  was  hoped  would  be  changed  for  action  if  General  Armstrong  accepted 
the  War  Department. 

Definite  orders  to  the  engineer  department  were  deferred  for  the  present, 
and  I  pursued  my  way  to  my  family,  stopping  in  Raleigh,  North  Carolina, 
to  confer  with  the  military  committee  of  the  Legislature  in  reference  to  the 
subject  of  the  coast  defences,  contained  in  my  late  letter  to  their  senator. 
Governor  Turner. 


HE.\DQUAkTERS  EnGINKKK  DkI'.\R  TMENT,   BkoOKI-VN,  N.  Y. 

lotli  March,  1S14. 

1813.     On  my  arrival  in  January  at  the  residence  of  my  family  in  North 
Carolina,  and  by  the  approbation  of  the  President  of  the  United  States,  I 


GENERAL  JOSEPH  GARDNER  SWIFT.  109 

submitted  a  memoir  to  the  militan'  committee  of  tlie  State,  throuo-h  their 
chairman,  General  W.  W.  Jones,  embracing  views  of  the  defence  of  the  two 
entrances  into  Cape  Fear  Harbor,  and  a  plan  of  organization  of  the  militia 
to  guard  the  sea  coast  against  predatory  assault  from  Bermuda,  etc.  In  the 
middle  of  the  month  went  to  Ashwood  to  confer  with  General  Thomas 
Brown  upon  this  plan.  I  was  accompanied  by  my  friend.  Dr.  Daniel 
McNeill,  who  visited  my  companion,  Major  Alexander  C.  Miller,  to  reduce 
an  imposthume  in  his  thigh,  and  succeeded  in  the  operation. 

In  the  month  of  February  visited  the  sound,  inlets  and  Smithville  anchor- 
age with  Lieutenant  T.  N.  Gautiere,  United  States  navy,  in  reference  to  the 
cooperation  of  gunboats  for  the  protection  of  the  coast,  etc. 

On  I  St  March  the  expected  orders  came  from  the  War  Department  to 
take  charge  of  the  defence  of  New  York  Harbor  as  chief  eneineer.  On 
2d,  with  my  man  Jack,  proceeded  to  Raleigh  and  on  to  Fredericksburg,  Va., 
where  Lieutenant-Colonel  Armistead  joined  and  accompanied  me  to  the 
city  of  Washington,  from  whence  I  sent  him  to  conduct  the  works  at 
Norfolk. 

On  1 2th,  consulting  with  General  Armstrong,  the  successor  of  Dr.  Eustis 
in  the  War  Department,  in  reference  to  my  future  functions  in  New  York 
and  at  the  Military  Academy,  and  upon  the  application  of  the  four  hundred 
and  ninety-seven  thousand  dollars  that  had  been  appropriated  for  fortifica- 
tions on  my  estimates  made  last  fall ;  which,  with  the  twenty  new  regiments 
of  infantry,  two  hundred  and  fifty  thousand  dollars  for  barges  for  harbor 
protection,  two  hundred  and  fifty  thousand  dollars  for  hulks  to  obstruct  the 
harbor  channels  at  points  where  the  defences  were  insufficient,  ten  compa- 
nies of  sea  fencibles  and  ten  companies  of  rangers,  with  also  a  newly 
organized  staff  and  a  commissariat  of  purchase  and  supplies,  evinced  the 
influence  of  our  new  secretary  and  promised  vigorous  operations. 

On  24th  arrived  at  Baltimore  and  consulted  with  General  Samuel  Smith 
upon  militia  and  other  defences  of  the  Petapsco,  and  we  inspected  Fort 
McHenry  and  gave  directions  for  repairs  of  the  same. 

On  26th  to  Philadelphia,  and  passed  a  day  with  my  late  chief,  Colonel 
Williams,  at  Mount  Pleasant  on   the   Schuylkill,  who   though   retired  was 


no  THE  MEMOIRS   OF 

deeply  interested  in  plans  for  protecting  the  Delaware,  in  reference  to 
which,  and  my  own  views  for  New  York,  I  remained  a  few  days  for  the 
benefit  of  the  counsel  of  this  patriot.  April  ist  at  Mrs.  Wilkinson's,  No. 
40  Broadway,  in  New  York,  that  had  been  for  years  the  city  quarters  of 
Colonel  Williams  and  other  engineer  officers. 

On  6th  April  reported  myself  for  duty  to  General  George  Izard,  the 
commandant  of  the  department,  and  by  an  especial  order  of  the  President, 
received  the  command  of  Staten  Island  with  a  brigade  composed  of  Colonel 
Samuel  Hawkins  and  Colonel  Alexander  Deniston's  regiments  of  infantry, 
the  3  2d  and  41st,  in  addition  to  my  duties  as  engineer,  and  also  such 
occasional  visits  to  the  Military  Academy  as  my  duties  may  permit,  and  for 
which  purpose  I  required  Captain  Partridge  at  West  Point  to  man  the 
engineer  yacht  and  send  the  same  to  me,  which  was  done,  and  the  yacht 
used  for  the  double  purpose  of  exploring  the  waters  adjacent  to  New  York, 
and  making  occasional  inspections  of  the  Academy  at  West  Point.  April 
15th  I  commenced  repairing  all  the  forts  in  the  harbor,  and  also  a  system  of 
block  houses  at  Utrecht  Bay,  west  end  of  Long  Island,  Princess  Bay  on 
Staten  Island,  at  Sandy  Hook  and  Jamaica  Bay,  to  prevent  surprise  from 
the  English  squadron  of  three  "  seventy-fours,"  two  frigates  and  a  sloop  of 
war  then  laying  off  the  Hook.  Employed  Mr.  Cropsy  of  Utrecht,  a  very 
industrious  and  intelligent  mechanic,  to  construct  these  buildings,  and  also 
Mr.  John  Tisdale  as  clerk  to  the  engineer  department.  He  had  been  simi- 
larly employed  by  Colonel  Williams.  To  aid  this  protection  we  had  a  fleet 
of  gun  boats  in  the  Sandy  Hook  cove.  Despatched  the  yacht  with  orders 
to  Captain  Partridge  at  West  Point  to  call  on  Colonel  Snowden,  the  military 
store-keeper,  with  my  requisition  for  the  wall  pieces  in  the  United  States 
stores,  which  on  their  receipt  were  distributed  to  the  several  block  houses 
before  mentioned,  each  block-house  having  a  guard  formed  by  detachments 
made  by  General  John  Swartwout  from  his  brigade  of  militia  quartered  at 
Perth  Amboy.  We  had  discovered  that  from  the  Romilles,  seventy-four,  a 
nightly  intercourse  was  maintained  with  spies  in  the  city.  I  had  arranged 
with  Cjeneral  Swartwout  to  transport  his  forces  at  short  notice  to  the  Hook 
or  L(Mig  Island,  having  also  an  understanding  with  the  commander  of  the 


GENERAL  JOSEPH  GARDNER  SWIFT.  1 1  i 

flotilla  of  gun  boats  and  barges,  Captain  Jacob  Lewis,  to  furnish  barges, 
relying,  however,  for  efificiency  on  his  second  officer.  Captain  J.  B.  Cooper, 
in  Armand's  corps,  and  who  though  never  a  sailor,  had  been  a  cavalry  office 
at  the  age  of  seventeen  in  the  War  of  Independence  ;  a  man  of  mind  and 
great  activity. 

On  25th  May  reported  to  the  Secretary  of  War  that  all  these  temporary 
defences  of  New  York  Harbor  were  defensible,  having  cannon  mounted 
in  all  of  them,  and  supplies,  etc.,  etc.  Also  reported  to  the  Secretary  that 
I  had  ordered  Major  McRee  to  the  northern  frontier  as  chief  engineer  there 
and  Lieutenant  S.  Thayer  to  General  Bloomfield  for  similar  duty  on  the 
Delaware  river  and  bay.  I  also  sent  the  Secretary  my  plans  for  new  build- 
ings at  West  Point,  regretting  that  the  appropriations  did  not  permit 
architectural  taste,  space  of  rooms  and  despatch  in  building  being  essential 
to  the  increasing  wants  of  the  Academy. 

At  the  close  of  the  month  of  May  the  governor  of  the  State  and  the 
commandant  of  the  department  accompanied  me  on  an  inspection  of  the 
forts  in  the  harbor  and  of  the  temporary  works  before  mentioned.  These 
various  employments  had  postponed  my  visit  to  West  Point  into  June,  when 
I  went  thither  in  the  yacht  and  inspected  the  Academy.  Among  the  exper- 
iments, found  the  magnetic  variation  to  be  four  degrees  and  fifteen  minutes 
west,  and  traced  on  the  ground  the  foundation  for  the  new  buildings. 
Finding  some  impediment  to  the  execution  of  my  orders  at  the  Academy, 
arising  from  my  absence  and  Captain  Partridge's  idea  of  his  own  responsi- 
bility in  my  absence,  by  the  permission  of  the  Secretary  of  War  I  remodelled 
the  functions  of  the  Academic  staff,  assuming  to  myself  the  inspectorship 
of  the  institution,  at  the  same  time  providing  for  the  functions  of  a  professor 
of  ethics,  histor>'  and  geography  combined  with  the  duty  of  chaplain,  that 
had  long  been  wanted  at  the  Academy,  and  for  which  the  Secretary  of  War 
permitted  me  to  employ  a  divine  of  the  Episcopal  church.  On  my  return 
to  the  city  I  found  my  son,  James  Foster,  at  No.  40  Broadway,  brought 
from  Wilmington,  North  Carolina,  by  my  friend  John  Fanning  Burgwin, 
with  letters  from  my  wife  that  the  rest  of  my  family  would  soon  come  on 
by  land  also,  under  escort  of  my  friend  Major  Alexander  C.  Miller. 


112  THE   MEMOIRS   OF 

On  the  occasion  of  arranging  for  the  celebration  of  4th  July  on  Staten 
Island,  General  Izard  deemed  my  views  as  interfering  with  his  command. 
In  referring  him  to  the  orders  of  the  President  and  the  63d  article  of  war,  I 
also  stated  that  my  arrangements  were  of  detail,  and  that  I  should  adhere  to 
them  unless  he  chose  to  assume  the  command  by  his  presence  on  the  Island, 
or  by  general  orders,  and  that  it  offered  me  an  opportunity  to  gratify  any 
wish  he  might  have  in  reference  to  those  details,  if  he  would  signify  the 
wish.  No  farther  discussion  or  action  on  this  point  of  command  arose 
while  General  Izard  was  in  command  of  the  department. 

On  17th  July  Mrs.  Swift  and  my  sons  William,  Alexander  and  Thomas, 
and  my  servant  Nancy,  arrived  from  North  Carolina  under  the  care  of  Mr. 
Miller,  in  twenty-one  days'  travel  from  Wilmington.  They  found  Julius  H. 
Walker,  James  Foster  Swift  and  myself  at  housekeeping  in  Washington 
Street,  Brooklyn,  in  quarters  fitted  by  my  friend  George  Gibbs,  and  by  the 
aid  of  another  friend,  Major  Fanning  C.  Tucker,  found  an  e.xcellent  school  for 
my  sons  James  and  Willy,  taught  by  a  Welch  scholar,  Evan  Brynon.  Soon 
after  my  family  vv'as  established  in  Brooklyn,  the  Society  for  Manumitting 
Slaves  called  (by  their  deputy,  a  Quaker  gentleman,)  in  my  absence,  on 
Mrs.  Swift,  and  informed  her  and  my  servants  Jack  and  Nancy,  that  the  two 
latter  could  not  be  held  in  bondage.  The  servants  replied  that  they  wished 
not  their  interference.  I,  however,  found  that  the  doctrines  of  these  philan- 
thropists had  disturbed  the  quiet  of  both  Jack  and  Nancy,  and  I  told  them 
that  I  would  give  them  their  freedom  as  soon  as  they  chose  to  require  it. 

The  principal  object  for  which  I  had  been  on  duty  in  New  York  Harbor, 
(to  repair  the  forts,  and  to  construct  such  temporary  works  as  the  time 
permitted,)  having  been  accomplished,  I  wrote  the  Secretary  of  War  that 
I  was  ready  for  duty  on  the  frontier,  knowing  that  an  army  was  to  be 
concentrated  at  Sackett's  Harbor  for  some  movement  on  the  St.  Lawrence. 

On  9th  August  I  received  orders  to  report  myself  for  duty  to  General 
Wilkinson  as  the  chief  engineer  of  the  9th  military  department.  On  14th 
General  Wilkinson  arrived  in  the  city,  and  the  same  day  I  had  an 
interview  with  him,  and  received  instructions  in  relation  to  the  contem- 
plated campaign. 


GENERAL  JOSEPH   GARDNER  SWIFT.  1 13 

On  17th  I  accompanied  him  and  General  Armstrong,  the  Secretary  of 
War,  Governor  Tompkins  and  Colonel  Gilman  of  New  Hampshire,  to 
Albany,  landing  my  brother,  William  H.  Swift,  at  West  Point,  a  cadet  for 
the  Academy,  and  giving  him  letters  to  Captain  Partridge.  At  Albany  I 
found  Major  George  Bumford  industriously  and  usefully  engaged  in  prepar- 
ing ordnance  stores  for  the  Ontario  frontier.  The  transportation  of  these 
ordnance  stores  and  cannon  to  the  lakes  had  become  an  exhorbitant 
expense,  frequently  in  amount  exceeding  the  value.  The  roads  were 
bad,  and  the  Mohawk  at  so  low  a  stage  of  water  that  flat  boats  could  not 
be  used  ;  all  indicating  the  neglect  of  preparation  for  war  previously  to 
its  declaration,  and  also  the  need  of  those  improvements  which  the  growth 
of  the  country  demanded,  and  which  had  been  ably  presented  to  Congress 
six  years  ago,  and  which  also  had  become  in  New  York  the  theme  of 
conversation  among  such  men  as  Gouverneur  Morris,  Thomas  Eddy,  Gideon 
Hawley,  John  Swartwout,  De  Witt  Clinton,  Elkanah  Watson,  etc.  From 
the  first  movement  of  military  stores  to  the  lakes,  for  naval  as  well  as  army 
purposes,  transportation  has  been  the  heaviest  item  of  expense. 

At  Albany  were  at  this  time  assembled  numerous  army  officers  eti  route  for 
Sackett's  Harbor.  On  25th  August  the  adjutant-general,  J.  B.  Walbach, 
General  L.  Covington  with  other  officers,  including  myself,  en  rotite,  for  the 
harbor,  and  arrived  there  on  31st,  and  found  the  army  much  distressed  by 
disease  from  using  bad  bread  ;  one  of  the  great  evils  that  arise  from  the 
contract  system  in  furnishing  supplies  for  an  army,  especially  bread  and 
pork.  Renewed  my  acquaintance  with  Commodore  J.  Chauncy,  now  the 
naval  commander  on  the  lakes,  and  made  the  acquaintance  of  Brigadier 
Jacob  Brown,  a  self-taught,  active,  and  highly  intelligent  officer  ;  also  found 
the  marquee  of  Colonel  Alexander  Macomb,  graced  by  his  accomplished 
and  exemplary  wife,  the  only  lady  in  camp,  General  Brown's  family  being 
at  Brownville.  I  had  left  my  own  family  at  Brooklyn,  having  arranged  with 
my  friend  John  F.  Burgwin  to  supply  Mrs.  Swift  with  money  in  case  of 
interruption  in  my  sending  supplies,  and  commending  my  family  to  the 
courtesies  of  my  friend  Fanning  C.  Tucker  and  his  family,  and  that  of  his 
father-in-law,  Joshua  Sands,  Esq.,  and  also  the  family  of  George   Gibbs, 


114  THE  MEMOIRS    OF 

Esq.,  all  of  Brooklyn,  and  in  the  city  the  family  of  Captain  James  Farquhar, 
whose  hospitable  lady  and  daughters  made  Green  Hill  (the  "  Sailors'  Snug 
Harbor"  estate  left  by  Captain  Randall,)  one  of  the  most  agreeable  circles 
of  domestic  happiness  that  I  have  ever  found. 

On  6th  September  my  assistants,  Lieutenant  James  Gadsden  and  Lieu- 
tenant R.  E.  De  Russy  arrived,  and  commenced  a  reconnoitre  of  the  waters 
of  the  bays  and  the  approach  to  the  St.  Lawrence. 

General  Wilkinson's  headquarters  was  the  daily  point  of  assembling  the 
staff,  and  of  conference  on  the  duties  that  were  opening  the  campaign  at 
this  time.  On  5th  September  General  Armstrong  was  escorted,  as 
Secretary  of  War,  into  the  cantonment,  the  interview  at  headquarters 
being  too  formal  for  that  ease  which  is  desirable  for  the  interchange  of 
opinion  among  chieftains.  I  was  invited  by  the  Secretary  of  War  to 
accompany  himself  and  General  Brown,  mounted,  to  the  battle  ground 
where  Colonel  Backus  fell  in  the  moment  of  victory,  and  where  General 
Brown  won  the  commission  he  now  wears  by  his  timely  arrival  in  the  action 
at  the  head  of  a  band  of  militia.  A  line  of  our  troops  extending  from  the 
block-house  at  the  harbor  toward  the  lake  shore,  south-east  of  Horse 
Island,  the  point  where  the  British  troops  landed  and  made  the  assault, 
General  Brown's  militia  arriving  through  the  woods  in  the  rear  of  Colonel 
Backus'  left  flank  and  thus  assailing  the  enemy  on  his  right  flank,  which 
caused  the  halt  and  precipitate  retreat  of  the  enemy,  and  thus  the  winning 
of  the  day  by  Brown. 

I  was  now  joined  by  Brevet-Major  Totten  as  my  first  assistant  engineer, 
and,  with  General  R.  Swartwout,  examined  the  stores  of  the  quartermaster- 
general's  department.  At  headquarters  I  observed  an  inactivity  that,  as  it 
seemed  to  me,  arose  from  some  doubts  as  to  who  was  in  command.  General 
Armstrong  or  General  Wilkinson.  In  my  occasional  excursions  with  these 
gentlemen  I  observed  that  they  did  not  ride  at  the  same  time.  In  my 
interviews  with  General  Wilkinson  his  expressions  implied  a  strong  dislike 
of  the  interference  of  the  War  Department,  and  in  fact  the  presence  of  the 
Secretary  did  lessen  the  influence  of  General  Wilkinson.  The  contem- 
plated junction  with   Hampton   was  a  subject  of  discourse,  and   General 


GENERAL  JOSEPH  GARDNER  SWIFT.  115 

Wilkinson  indulged  in  a  too  public  expression  of  his  dislike  to  General 
Hampton,  which,  on  one  occasion  gave  me  a  fair  opportunity  of  saying  to 
General  Wilkinson  that  his  remarks  tended  to  revive  the  feuds  and  party 
feelings  of  the  army  that  had  been  described  before  the  court  martial  at 
Fredericktown  in    181 1. 

Whatever  may  have  been  the  influence  of  General  Armstrong's  presence 
there  was  no  increase  in  the  activity  of  preparation  to  move  the  army, 
which  condition  of  things  continued  until  the  8th  October,  when  a  sudden 
council  of  war  was  called  and  I  was  questioned  as  to  my  opinion  of 
attacking  Kingston.  My  reply  was  that  I  would  not  attack  that  place  at  all 
if  the  army  was  ready  to  move  down  the  St.  Lawrence,  but  if  not  ready, 
that  Kingston  might  be  surprised  and  the  public  stores  burned  in  a  couple 
of  days  by  one  thousand  men,  if  my  intelligence  was  to  be  relied  on,  as  I 
believed  it  was. 

On  the  same  day  I  presented  Mr.  D.  B.  Douglass  with  letters  from  the 
War  Department,  informing  him  that  the  Secretary  of  War  had  acceded  to 
my  request  to  appoint  him  second  lieutenant  of  engineers,  and  that  he 
would  repair  to  West  Point  for  duty  at  the  Military  Academy,  and  by  him  I 
sent  supplies  to  my  family  at  Brooklyn. 

Up  to  19th  October  heard  no  more  of  an  assault  upon  Kingston,  on 
which  day  General  Wilkinson  directed  me,  with  Brevet-Major  Totten,  to 
reconnoitre  the  St.  Lawrence  river  in  the  vicinity  of  Prescott,  and  plan  an 
attack  upon  that  post,  and  to  sound  the  river  with  a  view  to  a  rapid  passage 
down  the  river.  On  20th  Major  Totten  and  myself  were  on  our  way  as  far 
as  Brownsville,  leaving  my  military  cloak  in  the  care  of  Lieutenant  Beverly 
Randolph,  aid-de-camp  to  General  Lewis,  and  also  some  books.  On  23d, 
near  Oswagatchie,  met  Colonel  Sackett  of  the  United  States  dragoons  at 
the  Bend,  and  with  him  arranged  to  be  furnished  with  escort,  and  thence 
we  proceeded  to  Ogdensburg  and  Morristown,  opposite  Brockville,  in 
Canada.  We  here  met  Arnold  Smith,  who,  with  Mr.  York  of  Ogdensburg, 
gave  us  much  assistance.  By  31st  October  I  had  procured  a  plan  of  Fort 
Prescott  and  sounded  the  channel  of  the  river,  and  sent  my  plan  of  attack 
to  General  Wilkinson  by  express,  whose  reply  was  that  he  should  enter  the 


Il6  THE  MEMOIRS    OF 

river  with  his  force  by  3d  November.  On  4th  instructed  Colonel  Sackett 
and  Major  Woodford  to  collect  the  boats  that  were  near  Hamilton  for  the 
use  of  the  army. 

Our  reconnoitering  was  much  annoyed  by  a  party  of  Glengary  Fencibles 
under  Ruben  Sherwood,  a  very  active  and  shrewd  refugee  from  Connecticut, 
so  that  our  movements  had  to  be  made  at  early  dawn,  and  our  passage  from 
place  to  place  effected  by  night.  At  the  close  of  this  day  (4th)  Major 
Charles  Nourse  met  me  at  Ogdensburg  with  advices  from  General 
Wilkinson,  then  at  Grenadier  Island,  the  army  on  the  river.  On  5th  I  met 
General  Wilkinson  in  his  boat  on  the  river  near  Morristown,  and  he  deter- 
mined to  pass  Prescott  at  night.  We  were  here  joined  by  Colonel  W. 
Scott  and  Colonel  E.  P.  Gaines  as  volunteers.  On  6th  the  main  body  of 
the  army  landed  to  march  through  Ogdensburg,  and  at  night  General 
Wilkinson  directed  me  to  conduct  him  in  his  boat  past  Prescott,  which  was 
done,  the  baggage  following,  the  cannonade  from  the  fort  commencing  as 
soon  as  our  boat  was  under  way.  Little  damage  was  sustained  by  the 
boats  owing  to  the  random  fire  from  the  fort,  and,  as  I  presume,  from 
neglect  of  ranging  their  guns  by  daylight.  Many  of  our  officers  and 
men,  particularly  the  aged,  were  suffering  from  disordered  bowels  from 
the  use  of  bad  bread,  especially  General  Wilkinson  and  General  Lewis. 
The  former  sought  relief  in  the  use  of  opium,  and  soon  after  passing 
Prescott  it  was  necessary  to  land,  which  was  done  at  Sharp's  farm,  in 
whose  house  under  the  influence  of  laudanum  the  general  became 
very  merry,  and  sung  and  repeated  stories,  the  only  evil  of  which  was 
that  it  was  not  of  the  dignified  deportment  to  be  expected  from  the  com- 
mander-in-chief. At  early  dawn  on  7th  we  reached  the  Indian  village  on 
the  American  shore,  followed  on  the  opposite  bank  of  the  river  by  light 
artillery  from  Prescott  that  annoyed  our  march  somewhat.  Our  force, 
seven  thousand  rank  and  file.  General  Wilkinson  here  informed  me  that 
he  expected  soon  to  meet  General  Hampton  and  his  four  thousand 
troops.  In  the  evening  of  7th  we  arrived  at  the  Narrows  and  remained  till 
9th,  sending  Colonel  Alexander  Macomb  in  advance,  and  crossing  the 
dragoons  from  the  American  shore,  our  videts  informing  us  that  twenty- 


GENERAL  JOSEPH   GARDNER  SWIFT.  1 1  7 

three  boats  loaded  with  troops,  protected  by  two  gun  boats,  commanded  by 
Captain  Mulcaster,  were  following  us  at  a  distance  of  four  miles.     The 
evening  of  9th  we  passed  the  Rapid  Platte  opposite  Hamilton,  and  put  to 
at   Williamsburgh    near   Chrysler's    farm.     On    the    morning    of   the    nth 
November    detachments    were    debarked    from    Boyd's,    Swartwout's    and 
Covington's  brigades  to  lighten  the  boats,  and  to  pass  the  dangers  of  the 
Long  Sault.     As  these  detachments  were  about  to  move  down  the  margin 
of  the  river  the  enemy  was  seen  advancing  in  column,  their  advance  guard 
opening  a  light  fire  on  us.     Orders  were  given  to  face  about  and  advance  on 
the  enemy  in  three  columns,  outflank  them,  and  capture  their  artillery,  each 
of  our  columns  five  hundred  men.     The  enemy  retired  and  formed  behind 
a  ravine  at  Chrysler's  farm  with  their  right  wing  forward,  as  our  movement 
was  to  turn  the  left  flank,  their  force  about  one  thousand  six  hundred,  their 
right  supported  by  four  pieces  of  artillery  aided  by  eight  gun  boats  in  the 
river,  that  maintained  a  constant  fire,  though   ill-directed.     Our  columns 
drove  the  enemy  back  across  a  ravine  west  of  the  first,  and  formed  line  on 
the  brink  of  the  ravine  opposite  the  enemy,  our  left  supported  by  four  pieces 
of  artillery  and  a  reserve  of  one  hundred  and  fifty  dragoons.     Both  lines 
opened  a  fire  on  each  other,  and  no  attempt  was  made  by  our  generals  to 
charge  until   Colonel  Walbach  put  the  dragoons  in   motion.     They  were 
arrested  by  the  fire  of  grape  from  the  gun  boats,  killing  some  eight  men 
and  wounding  many  at  the  head  of  this  charge.     Both  sides  ceased  firing 
at   the   same   moment   for   no   apparent  cause,  as   neither  side   made  any 
forward  movement  to  charge  further.     Our  columns,  after  having  every  fifth 
man   killed   or  wounded,   (one   hundred  and   two  of  the  former  and   two 
hundred   and  thirty-eight  of  the   latter,)    leaving   our  dead   on  the   field, 
marched  deliberately  to  our  boats,  pushed  off  and  descended  the  river  and 
the  Long  Sault,  arriving  on  the  morning  of  12th  at  Barnhard's  Bay,  and 
were  there  joined  by  Colonel  Macomb  and  General  Brown  of  the  advance, 
who  had  had  an  affair  with  the  enemy  at  an  adjacent  bridge.     During  the 
action  of  the  i  ith  November  my  duties  were  two-fold,  that  of  engineer  and 
aid  to   the   commander-in-chief,  therefore,  being  at  various  points  in   the 
field  with  orders,  saw  ever>'  movement  and  every  neglect  of  movement  that 


I  1 8  .  THE  MEMOIRS   OF 

I  have  noted.  On  this  same  day  (12th)  Colonel  H.  Atkinson,  General 
Hampton's  inspector-general,  arrived  at  Barnhard's  Bay  with  a  letter  from 
his  chief  declining  a  junction  of  his  army  at  St.  Regis.  This  declension 
put  an  end  to  the  campaign.  Our  army  left  Barnhard's  Bay  13th  Novem- 
ber, crossed  the  St.  Lawrence  and  ascended  the  Salmon  River  six  miles,  to 
the  French  Mills.  On  14th  we  buried  with  military  honors  General 
Leonard  Covington,  who  had  been  mortally  wounded  on  nth  November 
at  Chrysler's  farm.  The  general  died  on  12th.  He  requested  me  to  send 
his  sword  to  his  son,  and  to  give  his  horses  to  his  servant,  both  of  which 
were  done. 

After  making  proper  arrangements  in  my  department  I  received  the 
following  order  in  a  letter  from  General  Wilkinson : 

"French  Mills,  17th  November,  1813. 
"Col.  Swift:  Sir,  —  You  will  please  to  proceed  to  General  Hampton 
with  the  general  order  now  delivered  to  you  under  seal,  and  having 
delivered  it  will  communicate  to  me  the  result,  to  which  you  will  be  pleased 
to  add  freely  and  confidentially  every  observation  material  to  the  service 
which  you  may  have  made.  You  will  employ  an  express  to  bear  this 
communication  to  this  place.  You  will  then  proceed  to  Washington,  having 
leave  to  call  on  your  family,  and  deliver  to  the  Secretary  of  War  the  letter 
you  have ;  and  should  he  encourage  it  give  him  a  detail  of  the  affair  of  the 
nth,  and  also  of  all  our  measures  and  movements.  At  Washington  you 
will  be  able  to  learn  what  may  be  my  destiny.  Any  communication  you 
may  make  to  me  on  this  subject  will  be  gratefully  received.  I  shall  also  be 
glad  to  hear  from  you  on  your  route  through  the  great  towns. 
"With  unfeigned  friendship, 

"Your  obliged  and  faithful 

"James  Wilkinson." 

1  proceeded  to  Plattsburgh  with  caution,  having  to  evade  the  vidcts  of 
the  enemy,  and  arrived  at  General  Hampton's  headquarters  on  19th 
November,  and  on  20th  I  wrote  to  General  Wilkinson  by  express,  as 
follows : 


GENERAL  JOSEPH  GARDNER  SWIFT.  1 19 

"  Platts BURGH,  20th  November,  1813. 

''Dear  Sir:  I  enclose  an  official  report  of  my  progress.  I  found 
General  Hampton  in  bed,  who  said  he  was  ready  to  obey  your  orders,  with 
an  army  out  of  spirits,  not  more  than  one  thousand  six  hundred  effectives. 
I  learn  from  the  general  that  it  was  not  his  intention  to  disobey  any  order 
of  yours,  and  that  his  non-junction  was  in  consequence  of  the  opinion  that 
he  was  required  to  act  upon  your  letter  of  6th ;  and  from  General 
Armstrong's  letter  to  him,  which  he  showed  me,  there  was  no  intimation  of 
joining  you  above  Chataugay.  General  Hampton  pledges  his  sacred  honor 
to  me  that  it  was  his  desire  to  have  formed  a  junction  with  you.  The  last 
letter  of  General  Armstrong  to  General  Hampton  has  this  expression  in  it: 
'The  enemy  have  been  able  to  overtake  General  Wilkinson  and  detain  him 
as  high  up  the  river  as  Cornwall ;  it  is  evident  that  the  movement  below 
cannot  safely  be  more  than  a  feint.' 

"  On  passing  through  Chataugay  Four  Corners  I  find  all  consumed  by  fire. 
From  General  Hampton  I  learn  that  all  below  has  been  burned  by  the 
English.  All  your  supplies,  then,  must  come  from  this  point,  Plattsburgh, 
and  unless  a  force  be  left  here  to  guard  this  pass  and  depot  the  enemy  can 
come  upon  General  Hampton's  rear  and  cut  off  future  supply.  I  therefore 
think  that  General  Hampton  had  better  remain  here.  General  Hampton  is 
of  opinion  that  the  enemy  cannot  get  up  to  you.  He  gives  me  a  copy  of  his 
order  for  the  march,  (enclosed,)  and  entreats  of  you  to  allow  a  few  days' 
delay.  He  furnishes  relays  of  express  horses  to  get  my  letter  to  you,  in 
order  that  you  may  be  acquainted  with  the  nature  of  the  country  through 
which  the  enemy  must  march  to  make  an  attack  on  you.  The  roads  are  so 
bad  on  the  Chataugay  that  the  English  cannot  transport  their  artillery  and 
necessary  provisions.  Captain  McDonough  Is  superior  to  the  enemy  on 
this  lake  in  broad  water  with  a  working  wind,  and  Inferior  under  all  other 
circumstances.  The  enemy  could  be  In  this  place  In  twelve  hours  after 
General  Hampton  moves  for  Chataugay  Four  Corners.  I  am  fully  of  the 
opinion  that  the  government  will  make  the  best  of  our  affairs,  and  I  have 
been  thinking  of  the  plan,  to  wit:  Sink  all  the  boats  In  Salmon  River,  take 
sleds  and   move  .your  army  and    stores  to   this  place,   ordering  General 


120  .  THE  MEMOIRS   OF 

Hampton  to  build  huts  for  your  troops.  Make  from  this  an  attack  over  the 
ice  upon  Isle  au  Noix,  carry  it  and  St.  Johns,  and  determine  in  the  spring 
to  transport  boats  overland  fourteen  miles  and  make  a  descent  on  Montreal, 
or  wait,  with  the  command  of  these  passes  till  our  army  be  renovated  for 
an  efficient  assault.  This  plan  may  be  varied.  The  main  reasons  that 
influence  my  mind  in  this  are :  the  necessity  of  doing  something  before 
spring,  and  of  being  in  the  best  possible  position  for  action  then.  General 
Hampton  has  sent  his  sick  and  convalescent  into  quarters  at  Burlington, 
Vermont." 

The  next  day  I  again  wrote  to  General  Wilkinson  as  follows : 

"  Pi. ATTS BURGH,  2 1  St  November,  1813. 

''Dear  General :  Yesterday  I  wrote  you  a  hasty  memorandum,  wishing 
to  get  off  the  express  without  delay.  Though  hasty,  the  more  I  reflect  on 
the  plan  of  your  army  moving  to  this  place  for  winter  quarters,  and  more 
especially  as  a  new  line  of  operations  —  the  line  that,  in  the  end,  must  be 
adopted  —  the  more  am  I  impressed  with  its  importance.  From  the  French 
Mills  the  campaign  of  18 14  will  be  difficult  in  operation,  and  may  be,  if 
the  enemy  manage  well  with  gun  boats,  defeated;  difficult  from  the 
distance  of  army  supplies,  etc.  Suppose  in  the  spring  that  our  usual 
tardy  supply  of  recruits  prevent  any  certain  operation  against  the  enemy. 
In  such  case  this  position  on  Lake  Champlain  would  be  preferable  far 
to  French  Mills.  Hold  Sackett's  Harbor,  Fort  George,  and  Plattsburgh 
with  strong  garrisons  till  our  army  has  time  to  be  reformed." 

General  Wilkinson's  letter  to  the  Secretary  of  War,  mentioned  in  his 
order  to  me,  is  as  follows  : 

"Headquarters  French  Mills,  17th  November,  18 13. 

To  GeneR/\l  Armstrong.  Dear  General :  This  will  be  delivered  to  you 
by  Colonel  Swift,  who  took  the  boldest  and  most  active  part  in  the  action 
of  iith  instant  of  any  individual  engaged  except  Adjutant-General 
Walbach,  who  is  now  ill  in  consequence  of  his  exertions  and  fatigue.    Colonel 


GENERAL  JOSEPH  GARDNER  SWIFT.  12 1 

Swift,  from  his  personal  observations  on  the  ground,  is  able  to  give  you 
many  details  which  I  deem  improper  to  commit  to  paper,  and  for  this 
purpose  I  have  directed  him  to  wait  on  you  at  Washington  after  he  has 
seen  Hampton  with  the  order  of  which  I  yesterday  transmitted  you  a  copy. 
Your  military  system  requires  thorough  revision,  and  your  military  estab- 
lishment great  reform,  before  we  can  put  to  the  best  advantage  the  natural 
force  and  courage  of  our  countrymen.  Since  the  action  of  nth,  British 
officers  have  acknowledged  our  dauntless  courage,  but  observed  we  were 
undisciplined  and  fought  without  order,  and  indeed  the  scenes  of  that  day 
justify  these  observations.  Give  Colonel  Swift  your  confidence,  and  I 
pledge  myself  to  you  that  he  will  not  abuse  it.  God  bless  you  my  dear 
general. 

"  James  Wilkinson." 

On  the  day  of  the  date  of  my  letter  to  General  Wilkinson,  21st  Novem- 
ber, after  ordering  Major  William   McRee  and  Captain  S.  Thayer  of  the 
engineers,  then  at  Pittsburgh,  to  meet  me  in  New  York  as  soon  as  General 
Hampton  could   spare   them,    I   left    Plattsburgh   and   crossed   the   lake   to 
Vermont  and  arrived  in  Albany  on   25th,  and   by   invitation  at  Governor 
Tompkins'  as  his  guest,  and  where  I   found  General  Armstrong,  Secretary 
of  War,  and  also  General  William  H.  Harrison  from  our  western  army.    The 
Secretary  of  War  was  in  his  chamber  and  on  perusing  the  despatches  he 
enquired  into  the  condition  of  the  forces,  etc.      I  gave  him  in  detail  the 
condition    in   which    I    had   left   them,   and   of  the   movements  on   the   St. 
Lawrence.     He  attributed  the  result  to  the  negligence  of  both  the  generals. 
I  gave  him  the  substance  of  my  letters  to  General  Wilkinson  from  Platts- 
burgh and  my  reason  for  changing  the  course  of  our  error  that  had  been 
existing  from  the  first  year  of  the  war,  namely,  inviting  the  enemy  to  the 
west  instead  of  keeping  him  to  the  east  by  our  operations  on  the  natural 
line  through  Lake  Champlain,  and  thereby  compelling  him  to  pass  to  and 
from  Upper  Canada  by  the  Ottawa  River,  etc.     These  views  could  not  have 
been  novel  in  such  a  mind  as  General  Armstrong's,  and  when  at  table  the 
conversation  was  between  him  and  the  Governor  and  General  Harrison,  and 


122  THE  MEMOIRS   OF 

it  was  jocosely  remarked  that  western  war  did  not  occasion  John  Bull  to 
bring  over  veterans,  as  he  would  do  if  the  war  was  pressed  to  the  east,  the 
Secretary  turned  the  subject.  General  Harrison  had  been  a  pupil  of  Gen- 
eral Wayne  and  though  not  of  equal  genius  or  reading  with  General 
Armstrong,  he  had  sound  military  views,  and  he  sustained  the  point  of 
Governor  Tompkins'  waggery.  The  latter  never  spared  a  joke  because  it 
was  true,  save  when  it  might  injure  feeling.  There  are  few  of  larger  gen- 
erosity of  feeling  than  Governor  Tompkins.  The  power  of  calling  out  the 
militia  was  also  a  topic  at  table  after  dinner,  and  United  States  authority 
denied,  by  all,  to  make  the  call  save  through  the  action  of  the  governor  of 
the  State,  whose  right  and  duty  it  would  also  be  to  designate  the  general 
and  other  officers  until  the  body  joined  the  army  of  the  United  States  in 
the  field.  As  to  the  causes  of  failure  of  the  campaign  on  the  St.  Lawrence, 
the  sojourn  of  General  Armstrong  on  the  frontier  in  the  autumn  had 
excited  the  jealousy  of  General  Wilkinson.  As  the  event  is,  both  of  the 
generals  and  Secretary  would  gladly  attribute  the  failure  to  any  other  cause 
than  their  respective  errors.  The  immediate  cause  of  the  failure  is  the 
delay  on  the  river;  overtaking  our  army  by  the  British  on  i  ith  November 
ended  the  campaign.  My  impression  is  that  a  junction  of  Wilkinson  and 
Hampton  was  not  intended,  and  by  consequence  an  assault  on  Montreal 
was  not  purposed  after  October,  if  previously.  One  of  the  main  causes  of 
delay  is  bad  bread,  and  its  consequent  bad  health.  Our  chiefs  were  old, 
and  from  the  date  of  the  movement  from  Sackett's  Harbor  the  two  oldest, 
Wilkinson  and  Lewis,  had  not  a  day  of  sound  health  until  winter.  If  the 
army  had  been  led  by  General  Brown  the  end  had  been  better  than  it  is. 

The  evening  of  25th,  agreeably  to  his  request  I  wrote  to  General 
Wilkinson  my  idea  of  his  prospects,  ami  mentioned  my  main  views  of  20th 
and  2  1st  on  his  movements.  As  I  could  not  with  propriety  mention  the 
Secretary  of  War's  conversation  about  himself  and  Hampton,  I  briefly  said 
I  found  him  dissatisfied  with  both. 

At  the  same  time  I  wrote  Sheriff  T.  J.  Davies  on  Black  Lake  that  the 
Secretary  of  War  had  acceded  to  my  rccjuest  to  send  his  son  Charl(>s  to 
West  Point  as  a  cadet.      I    had  given  the  Secretary  an  account  of  the  /cal 


GENERAL  JOSEPH  GARDNER  SWIFT.  i  23 

that  this  youth  had  exhibited  in  the  campaign  on  the  St.  Lawrence,  and  also 
of  the  service  that  the  father  had  rendered  to  the  march  of  the  army 
between  Ogdensburgh  and  the  rapids  below,  in  foraging,  etc.  The  same 
evening  I  wrote  Mr.  Arnold  Smith,  who  had  been  a  very  able  guide  on  the 
St.  Lawrence,  that  the  Secretary  of  War  offered  him  the  post  of  assistant 
deputy  quartermaster-general. 

I  found  in  Albany  a  letter  from  Professor  Mansfield  at  West  Point  on  the 
subject  of  his  going  to  Ohio,  and  sent  him  leave  to  be  from  the  Academy 
through  the  vacation  of  course,  and  also  to  loth  April,  18 14. 

On  26th  my  faithful  and  fearless  man  Jack  arrived  from  Plattsburgh  with 
my  horses  Scott  and  Flim  Nap  ;  placed  them  at  livery  with  a  cavalry  soldier 
of  the  Revolutionary  War,  Mr.  Gregory,  to  await  orders  for  my  return  to 
the  north,  in  case  that  my  ideas  of  a  campaign  should  be  adopted. 

On  27th  November,  with  General  Armstrong  and  General  W.  H.  Harrison 
and  other  officers,  taking  a  steamboat  to  ourselves  and  stopping  at  West 
Point  to  make  an  inspection,  and  on  28th  found  my  family  all  in  health  at 
Brooklyn,  in  Washington  Street.     Thanks  be  to  God  ! 

On  30th  November  General  Dearborn,  the  commander  of  the  depart- 
ment, and  General  Harrison,  dined  and  passed  the  evening  at  my  quarters, 
and  with  my  cousin,  W^  R.  Swift.  General  Armstrong  could  not  stay  to 
dinner.  The  conversation  was  upon  the  mode  of  conducting  the  campaign 
of  1 8 14. 

We  had  that  morning  inspected  the  forts  on  Staten  Island  and  west  end 
of  Long  Island — a  British  squadron  cruising  off  Sandy  Hook. 

On  9th  December,  with  Bishop  Hobart  consulting  on  the  subject  of 
inviting  the  Rev.  Adam  Empie  to  take  the  chaplaincy  of  the  Military 
Academy,  the  Secretary  of  War  having  in  the  previous  summer  given  his 
consent  to  offer  that  appointment  to  Mr.  Empie,  and  having  learned  that  he 
(Mr.  Empie)  had  determined  to  leave  Wilmington,  North  Carolina,  I  now 
wrote  to  Mr.  Empie  that  the  Bishop  highly  approved  the  plan,  and  that  the 
selection  of  an  Episcopalian  had  been  made  because,  aside  from  my  own 
views,  the  service  of  that  church  was  deemed  to  be  the  most  appropriate 
to  the  discipline  of  a  military  academy. 


124  THE  MEMOIRS  OF 

December  1 1,  the  Secretary  of  War  invited  me  to  accompany  him  to  the 
War  Office  at  Washington,  and  on  15th  with  Mrs.  Armstrong  and  her 
daughter,  Miss  Margaret,  the  journey  was  commenced.  At  Princeton,  with 
the  general,  looked  over  the  battle  ground  where  General  Mercer  fell  in  the 
Revolution,  and  to  whom  the  Secretary  had  been  an  aid-de-camp  on  that 
day,  the  Secretary  marking  the  positions  and  movements  of  the  American 
and  British  forces  in  that  conflict. 

We  occupied  until  24th  in  looking  at  the  Delaware  and  Patapsco  with 
military  views,  and  in  reaching  Washington  I  found  Mrs.  Armstrong  an 
amiable  lady,  and  her  daughter  handsome  and  intelligent.  The  general  has 
a  fine  mind,  though  personally  of  very  inert  habits,  abounding  in  knowledge 
of  the  past  and  strong  views  of  the  future  operations  on  the  frontier.  He 
spoke  of  General  Washington  in  highest  terms  of  respect  for  his  integrity 
and  patriotism,  but  not  respectfully  of  his  genius.  We  discoursed  on  the 
"  Newburgh  Letters."  The  general  said  that  had  he  been  one  year  older 
he  would  not  have  written  them  ;  that  they  had  been  a  mill-stone  hung  about 
his  neck  through  his  life.  He  corroborated  Dr.  Eustis'  saying  that  Colonel 
Pickering  was  on  the  committee  which  appointed  him  (General  Armstrong) 
to  write,  and  that  Dr.  Townsend  had  also  been  on  that  committee. 

At  Washington,  on  the  presentation  of  my  reports  and  estimates  for 
fortifications  and  the  Academy  for  1814,  I  recommended  that  the  chief 
engineer  should  have  his  office  in  the  city  of  Washington.  The  objection 
was  that  the  station  of  the  corps  of  engineers  was,  by  law,  to  be  at  W^est 
Point.  My  reply  to  this  was  that  Congress  could  remedy  that  by  a  very  brief 
resolution  ;  that  the  necessity  was  apparent  in  the  fact  that  the  adjutant  and 
paymaster-general's  departments  were  established  there  for  easy  communi- 
cation with  the  War  Office;  and  that  the  functions  of  both  of  those  offices 
were  very  simple,  while  those  of  the  engineer  department  involved  frequent 
elucidations  to  the  Secretary  of  War  upon  expensive  plans  of  construction, 
etc.  There  seemed  to  me  to  be  an  impression  that  having  a  military 
staff  at  Washington  would  be  placing  a  personal  influence  there  not 
congenial  with  our  institutions.  The  wise  and  worthy  I'resitlent  Madison, 
able  to  conduct  the  affairs  of  the  country  in  times  of  jicace  \ery  success- 


GENERAL  JOSEPH  GARDNER  SWIFT.  125 

fully,  found  himself  oppressed  by  the  disappointments  that  resulted  from 
the  imperfect  composition  of  our  army,  and  of  operations  concocted  by 
his  inexperienced  counsellors,  which  were  evinced  by  failures  of  cam- 
paigns. Neither  himself  nor  his  congressional  intimates,  nor  his  cabinet, 
fancied  the  proximity  of  a  military  staff  as  advisers  in  a  war  that  had  been 
commenced  without  preparation,  a  neglect  that  had  much  of  its  origin  in  a 
just  though  misdirected  dread  of  a  standing  army;  which  error  had  also  been 
accompanied  by  an  omission  of  competent  provision  for  the  construction 
and  keeping  in  good  condition  the  machinery  of  war.  That  is,  providing 
and  classifying  arms  and  munitions  under  the  care  of  competent  and 
responsible  officers  to  conserve  the  same,  and  including  in  said  provision  a 
corps  of  instructed  administrative  officers  with  a  comparative  small  number 
of  men  as  a  nucleus  upon  which  may  be  predicated  any  force  that  a  war 
may  make  needful. 

The  habits  of  the  nation,  for  more  than  a  quarter  of  a  century  previously 
to  this  war,  had  been  that  of  peaceful  commerce;  now  disturbed  by  the 
aggression  of  foreign  powers  that  had  made  retaliation  necessary,  these 
habits  in  peace  had  become  so  moulded  by  demagogues  that  the  people 
were  more  influenced  by  personal  objects  and  small  party  politics  than  by 
views  for  the  public  good;  a  course  of  conduct  that  had  thronged  the  halls 
of  Congress  with  representatives,  a  large  majority  of  whom  had  but  slender 
mental  endowments.  In  the  progress  of  the  war  a  better  state  of  things 
was  dawning.  The  pressure  of  the  war  had  turned  quiet  and  intelligent 
minds  of  men  at  home  to  reflect  gravely  on  the  lack  of  talent  in  Congress, 
and  in  the  cabinet  also.  The  elections  began  now  to  return  better  informed 
citizens  to  Congress.  The  experience  of  Mr.  Madison  had  been  compara- 
tively great,  but  it  had  been  altogether  of  a  civil  character.  In  appointing 
military  officers,  resort  was  had  to  those  who  had  survived,  and  who  had 
held  subordinate  offices  in  the  great  struggle  for  independence  ;  even  these 
were  too  aged  for  prolonged  activity  in  the  field.  The  subject  of  change 
in  the  selection  of  officers  for  the  army  as  leaders  had  become  a  common 
topic  at  Washington,  and  it  was  admitted  that  too  much  favor  to  party  had 
been  exercised  in  making  army  appointments.     Such  men  as  General  John 


126  THE  MEMOIRS   OF 

Brooks  in  Massachusetts,  and  Colonel  Jonathan  Williams  of  Philadelphia 
were  now  thought  of,  as  of  the  youngest  on  the  Revolutionary  list  who 
were  competent  to  lead. 

West  Point,  December  31st,  181 6. 

18 14.  Januar)'.  On  3d  of  this  month,  at  the  request  of  Governor 
Worthington  of  Ohio,  I  gave  him  a  plan  to  form  a  military  academy  in 
that  growing  State.  My  view  of  the  use  of  such  institutions  in  the  several 
States  is  that  it  is  the  best  mode  to  interest  militia  officers  to  train  no  larger 
body  of  militia  than  a  battalion  ;  that  no  larger  force  of  militia  could  be 
usefully  assembled,  and  consequently  no  higher  grade  of  rank  should  be 
conferred  in  the  militia  than  that  of  major.  The  duty  of  a  freeman  to 
defend  his  country  could  be  best  initiated  at  such  schools.  But  by  no 
means  to  interfere  with  the  Military  Academy  at  West  Point. 

The  appropriations  for  18 14  were  to  raise  three  regiments  of  riflemen 
and  ten  companies  of  rangers,  also  five  hundred  thousand  dollars  for 
floating  batteries  —  contemplating  the  steam  frigate  plan  of  Mr.  Fulton  — 
and  five  hundred  thousand  dollars  for  fortifications. 

In  this  month  of  January,  at  Washington  several  highly  talented  gentle- 
men of  Congress,  together  with  some  citizens  sojourning  there,  and 
including  .some  officers  of  the  army,  held  meeetings  to  consult  upon 
measures  to  be  recommended  to  the  country  through  the  gazettes  and  by 
correspondence  with  citizens  in  all  the  States  of  the  Union,  to  commend 
General  John  Armstrong  for  the  next  presidency,  under  the  conviction  that 
to  carry  on  the  war  with  success  to  attain  peace  the  President  should  be  a 
military  man.  Jeremiah  Mason  of  New  Hampshire,  then  in  the  Senate, 
was  the  leader  of  this  plan,  and  I  was  myself  an  humble  agent  to  promote 
the  purpo.se.  The  "Newburgh  Letters"  were  the  chief  obstacle  to  our 
essay.  But  General  Armstrong  was  the  strongest  mind  of  the  party  in 
power,  and  it  had  been  useless  to  have  wasted  our  efforts  on  General 
Pinckney;  he  had  the  curse  of  Federalism  attached  to  his  most  honored 
name.  The  subject  subsided.  It  was  impracticable  from  the  lowness  of 
motive  that  had  to  be  addressed  to  a  misguided  public.     Popularity  of  a 


GENERAL  JOSEPH   GARDNER  SWIFT.  127 

mean  species  was  needed  to  sustain  a  fresh  candidate.  But  the  essay  had 
one  good  influence  upon  the  cabinet,  to  spur  it  on  to  make  new  and 
suitable  appointments,  and  to  adopt  a  plan  of  campaign  that  promised 
useful  success,  namely,  by  concentrating  our  forces  upon  Lower  Canada. 

On  20th  January  my  orders  sent  Colonel  Armistead  to  inspect  and  repair 
the  fortifications  south  of  Maryland,  and  Major  William  McRee  to  Sackett's 
Harbor  to  construct  defences  there,  taking  upon  myself  the  direction  of 
the  repairs  on  the  Delaware,  and  thence  eastward  to  Maine.  On  28th 
January  arrived  at  headquarters  at  Brooklyn,  and  until  24th  February 
engaged  with  General  Moses  Porter,  the  officer  of  ordnance,  in  com- 
mencing the  repairs  at  Fort  Miflin  and  in  New  York  Harbor.  On  24th 
February  my  father,  Dr.  Foster  Swift,  received  the  appointment  of  surgeon 
in  the  army,  through  the  efforts  of  his  former  schoolmate  in  Boston,  Hon. 
H.  G.  Otis. 

On  25th  February  received  my  commission  from  Adjutant  John  B. 
Walbach,  as  brevet  brigadier-general  in  the  army.  Its  date,  instead  of 
14th  February  should  have  been  nth  November,  1813.  This  omission  I 
have  attributed  to  General  Armstrong's  dislike  of  my  friendly  regard  for 
General  Wilkinson. 

On  28th  February  to  Philadelphia,  to  meet  the  committee  of  defence 
there,  my  former  chief.  Colonel  Williams,  its  principal  counsellor,  and  by 
order  of  the  Secretary  of  War,  and  with  Colonel  Williams'  advice,  formed  a 
plan  for  the  Delaware,  and  to  defend  the  approaches  by  land.  On  the 
2d  of  March  proceeded  with  the  committee  down  the  Delaware  in  the 
revenue  cutter  to  Fort  Miflin,  and  to  the  Pea  Patch,  accompanied  by  the 
veteran  Colonel  Allen  McLean  and  Commodore  Stewart,  and  selected  the 
Pea  Patch  and  a  point  opposite  on  the  Delaware  as  sites  for  works  of 
defence,  to  be  occupied  at  once.  Commodore  Stewart's  views  are  of  a  true 
military  character,  both  for  land  and  sea.  Reported  the  result  of  this 
examination  to  the  War  Department  on  my  return  to  Philadelphia,  where, 
in  consequence  of  letters  from  Washington,  on  4th  March  I  wrote  Mr. 
Ferdinand  R.  Hassler,  then  in  London,  under  cover  of  Hon.  Jonathan 
Russell,  and  also  through   Mr.  Gallatin,  that  his  long  absence   from  the 


128  THE  MEMOIRS    OF 

United  States  was  commented  upon,  and  that  I  hoped  he  would  return  to 
the  United  States  to  resume  the  coast  survey  as  soon  as  possible.  Among 
the  rumors  was  one  that  he  was  dabbling  in  politics,  and  corresponding 
with  the  enemies  of  England  on  the  subject  of  the  oppression  that  his 
native  land  (Switzerland)  was  sustaining.  Mr.  Hassler  was  conducting  the 
construction  of  mathematical  instruments  for  the  survey  with  Mr.  Edward 
Troughton. 

On  6th  March  1  went  to  Germantown  to  consult  with  Major  Roberdeau 
on  the  topography  of  the  Delaware  shore,  and  there  met  Mr.  Stephen  H. 
Long,  and  examined  his  successful  hydraulic  machinery ;  gave  him  my  aid 
to  enter  the  corps  of  engineers  as  a  second  lieutenant,  and  employed  him 
to  join  me  at  Brooklyn  as  an  assistant  engineer.  Returned  to  Delaware 
River,  and  on  9th  of  March,  after  consulting  with  General  Bloomfield  on 
the  military  defences,  returned  to  my  family  at  Brooklyn.  On  19th  pro- 
ceeded to  West  Point  to  examine  the  cadets  and  other  matters  about  the 
Academy,  that  employed  me  there  for  one  week.  On  3d  April  Mrs.  Swift  and 
myself  were  confirmed  at  St.  Ann's  by  Bishop  Hobart,  at  Brooklyn,  L.  I. 

On  4th  April  received  from  Major  John  J.  Abert  a  letter,  enclosing  a  pres- 
ent from  Robert  Carey  Jennings,  of  an  original  letter  of  three  pages,  fool's- 
cap  paper,  blue,  and  English  make,  from  General  (then  Major)  Washington 
to  Governor  Dinwiddle,  dated  3d  June,  1754,  speaking  of  an  expected  battle 
with  Jumonville,  and  having  a  remarkable  expression  in  it  as  coming  from 
Washington  to  ^.  governor,  to  wit:  "  If  Jumonville  behave  no  better  than  he 
did  last  week  I  shall  have  little  difficulty  in  driving  him  to  the  devil."  Which 
letter  may  not  have  been  copied  by  General  Washington  in  his  then 
position,  and  which  therefore  may  serve  to  elucidate  the  slander  cast  on 
Wa.shington  by  the  French  governor,  of  cruelty,  etc.  This  letter  R.  C. 
Jennings  received  from  his  father-in-law,  the  Rev.  Neidler  Robinson,  living 
not  far  from  Peter.sburgh,  Va.,  and  who  had  been  a  personal  friend  of 
Washington's.  I,  for  safety,  deposited  this  letter,  by  the  hands  of  John 
Pintard,  in  the  archives  of  the  Historical  Society  of  New  York.  Of  the 
authenticity  of  the  letter,  from  the  hand-writing,  .some  carele.ss  orthography 
and  its  whole  aspect,  not  a  doubt  existed. 


GENERAL  JOSEPH   GARDNER  SWIFT.  i  29 

April  9th,  with  my  cousin  William  Roberdeau  Swift,  and  my  brother-in-law, 
Julius  H.  Walker,  proceeded  on  a  tour  of  inspection  to  direct  the  repair  of 
all  the  fortifications  east  of  New  York  to  Maine. 

April  13th  we  arrived  at  Boston  ;  met  there  my  father  at  his  post  as 
United  States  surgeon,  the  family  residing  in  Sudbury  Street;  my  mother 
in  excellent  health.  I  had  not  seen  my  parents  for  four  years  and  five 
months.  The  time  had  been  gentle  in  its  effects  on  my  parents.  Exam- 
ined the  works  at  the  Castle  and  on  Governor's  Island,  and  the  waters  to 
the  lower  anchorage. 

April  1 6th,  to  General  Brooks  in  Medford,  to  consult  about  obstructino- 
the  channel  of  Boston  Harbor  by  hulks  sunk  with  care.  My  cousin  W.  R. 
Swift  was  with  me,  and  after  dining  with  the  general  we  were  returnino-  to 
Boston  in  our  hired  chaise,  and  driving  at  good  speed  encountered  a 
country  wagon  and  broke  its  fore  axle,  capsized  our  chaise  into  a  hollow, 
which  instantly  killed  our  horse.  The  expense  of  this  drive  was  one 
hundred  and  sixty  dollars,  and  we  both  escaped  with  very  slight  contusions. 

April  19th,  leaving  Mr.  Swift  and  Mr.  Walker  to  visit  the  alvia  mater  of 
the  latter  at  Cambridge,  I  proceeded  with  Commodore  Hull,  United  States 
navy,  to  Portsmouth,  N.  H.,  and  on  board  the  frigate  Congress  there  met 
my  cousin  John  Lovering,  a  fine  scholar,  but  by  dissipation  reduced  to  a 
clerkship  on  board  this  vessel ;  made  arrangements  for  his  discharge,  and 
to  return  to  his  excellent  mother  in  Boston.  Examined  the  new  seventy- 
four  on  the  stocks ;  renewed  my  acquaintance  at  the  Langdon's  and 
Sheafe's,  and  with  Commodore  Hull  examined  the  harbor  to  plan  means  of 
protection  against  sudden  incursion  from  the  British  cruisers;  gave  orders 
for  suitable  repairs  on  Fort  Constitution,  and  a  covered  battery  at  Kittery 
on  the  Maine  shore.  The  works  at  Portland  being  deemed  by  General  M. 
Porter  in  as  good  condition  as  they  could  be  placed,  I  went  no  farther  east. 

April  2ist  returned  to  Boston,  and  on  23d  with  General  John  Brooks,  T. 
H.  Gushing  and  Colonel  Sullivan  attended  an  experiment  at  the  navy 
yard,  where  one  hundred  and  seventy-five  balls  of  lead,  of  two  ounces 
weight  each,  were  discharged  from  seven  gun  barrels  hooped  together, 
each  barrel   containing  twenty-five  balls,   and  the  whole  discharged  at  a 


130  THE  MEMOIRS   OF 

target  two  hundred  and  fifty  yards  off,  the  balls  penetrating  to  various 
depths  out  of  sight  into  the  target.  Chamber's  repeating  gun.  Three 
days  after,  with  Governor  Brooks,  General  Gushing  and  Colonel  Sullivan  I 
inspected  the  channel-way  down  the  harbor,  with  a  view  to  planning  a 
system  of  hulks  to  obstruct  the  same.  Found  Colonel  George  Sullivan  an 
active  and  intelligent  aid  in  this  matter,  giving  the  subject  his  whole  time. 

April  27th,  with  my  mother  and  sister,  Sarah  Adams,  cousin  W.  R.  Swift 
and  Mr.  Adams,  on  my  way  to  Rhode  Island  Harbor.  Passed  a  couple  of 
days  at  Taunton  Green,  at  the  academy  and  other  nooks  of  William  R. 
and  my  boyhood  scenes,  meeting  Dr.  Doggett  and  the  Leonards,  and 
Crockers,  and  Tillinghasts,  Cobbs  and  other  early  friends,  greatly  to  the 
pleasure  of  my  mother,  and  to  all  of  us.  I  here  finished  my  plan  for  so 
sinking  the  hulks  in  Boston  Harbor  as  by  aid  of  pumps  to  float  each  vessel 
at  will,  and  sent  the  same  to  Colonel  Sullivan  to  be  laid  before  the  gentle- 
men before  mentioned,  by  the  hands  of  Justice  Parker,  on  the  last  day  of 
April ;  the  same  day  saw  my  mother,  etc.,  off  for  Boston,  and,  with  W.  R. 
Swift  left  for  Newport,  R.  I.  After  examining  the  forts,  gave  to  Captain 
Julian  F.  Heileman  directions  for  the  repair  thereof,  which  occupied  me  to 
the  3d  May,  when,  with  W.  R.  Swift,  proceeded  over  to  Connanicut,  and  by 
the  ferry  and  road  thence  to  New  London,  where,  with  General  H.  Burbeck 
arranged  for  the  best  that  could  there  be  done  to  repel  any  sudden  assault 
of  the  enemy,  then  laying  off  in  Gardner's  Bay. 

Found  Colonel  Roswell  Lee  an  excellent  volunteer  officer,  abounding  in 
military  resources  for  plans  of  defence,  and  an  indefatigable  and  able 
executor  of  the  field  works  to  enclose  old  Fort  Griswold  —  the  key  of  the 
position.  To  the  work  done  here  I  have  attributed  safety  from  marauding 
parties,  such  as  succeeded  at  the  mouth  of  the  Connecticut  River. 

On  7th  May,  via  Fort  Hale  in  New  Haven  Harbor,  arrived  at  ni)-  head- 
quarters, Brooklyn,  where  the  Rev.  Adam  Empie  reported  himself  for  duty 
at  the  Military  Academy.  I  found  on  my  desk  letters  from  the  War 
Department  in  reply  to  my  request  to  be  assigned  to  duty  on  the  lake 
frontier,  which  in  my  opinion  could  now  be  done,  as  every  arrangement  had 
been  made  to   repair   and    arm    the    fortifications    on    the    seaboard.     My 


GENERAL  JOSEPH  GARDNER  SWIFT.  13  I 

request  was  declined,  though  General  Brown  had  asked  that  I  might  be 
sent  to  Niagara;  the  reason  assigned  —  the  need  of  my  services  on  the 
seaboard  —  may  be  sufficient,  they  were  not  so  deemed  by  me.  However, 
General  Dearborn  proposed  examining  all  the  defences  of  New  York 
Harbor,  in  which  I  accompanied  him.  The  spirit  of  the  war  of  '76,  and  his 
experience  therein,  gave  a  zest  to  the  reconnoitre,  and  interest  to  the 
opinion  of  this  veteran.  We  were  a  week  employed  in  this  service,  to  17th 
of  May.  On  20th  of  which  month  I  accompanied  Rev.  Mr.  Empie  to  West 
Point,  and  inducted  him  to  his  office,  that  of  chaplain  and  professor  of 
ethics,  and  also  treasurer  of  the  Academy;  a  novel  junction  of  functions, 
but  rendered  needful  by  the  want  of  officers. 

My  cousin,  William  R.  Swift,  was  with  me,  and  with  a  corps  of  cadets  we 
ascended  to  the  summit  of  Crows'  Nest  Hill,  and  measured  its  distance 
from  Fort  Clinton  by  the  sound  of  its  cannon,  having  with  us  a  time 
chronometer.  At  one  thousand  one  hundred  and  forty-two  feet  the  second 
for  the  passage  of  sound,  the  distance  is  eight  thousand  two  hundred 
and  seventy-nine  feet. 

On  my  return  to  headquarters,  Brooklyn,  29th,  was  called  on  by  Colonel 
Nicholas  Fish,  formerly  the  adjutant-general  of  the  United  States  army, 
who  informed  me  of  the  apprehension  of  the  citizens  of  New  York,  and 
his  wish  to  consult  with  me  on  the  mode  of  communication  with  the 
War  Department  on  measures  needful  to  defending  the  city. 

This  conference  resulted  in  the  appointment  of  a  committee  of  defence  by 
the  city  corporation.  At  this  time  a  British  squadron  was  cruising  off  the 
harbor.  On  loth  I  met  Governor  Tompkins  and  the  mayor,  De  Witt 
Clinton.  By  their  advice  funds  were  furnished  by  the  corporation  and 
spies  were  employed  by  me  to  visit  the  squadron  off  the  Hook,  who  brought 
me  a  sketch  from  the  cabins  of  Sir  John  B.  Warren  and  Sir  Thomas  Hardy, 
which,  whether  real  or  speculative,  contemplated  a  descent  at  some  point 
on  the  coast  between  Rhode  Island  and  Chesapeake  Bay,  and  which  I 
reported  to  General  Armstrong  at  Washington.  Upon  this  I  invited  the 
governor  and  mayor  to  examine  with  me  the  East  River  to  Throg's  Point,  and 
the  main  channel  to  sea  by  Sandy  Hook,  giving  them  my  opinion  that  the 


132  THE  MEMOIRS   OF 

citizens   miaht   be   invited   to   construct   a   line   of  defence   in  the   rear   of 

o 

Brooklyn,  and  another  from  Hallet's  Point  in  Hell  Gate  across  York  Island 
to  Mount  Alto.  These  gentlemen  approved  the  idea,  and  at  their  instance 
six  thousand  dollars  were  placed  at  my  disposal  to  commence  the  plan.  I 
was  at  this  time  joined  by  Lieutenant  James  Gadsden  as  my  aid-de-camp. 

General  Morg-an  Lewis  was  ordered  to  relieve  General  Dearborn  in  the 
command  of  the  third  department  at  New  York. 

On  2 2d  June  Robert  Fulton,  Esq.,  Commodore  Decatur,  Hon.  Oliver 
Wolcott,  General  Lewis  and  myself  witnessed  an  experiment  made  by  Mr. 
Fulton  at  Governor's  Island,  to  show  the  effect  of  discharging  a  cannon 
under  water.  Mr.  Fulton  placed  a  thirty-two  pounder  five  feet  below  the 
surface  of  the  water,  and  the  muzzle  five  feet  from  a  target  composed  of 
oak  plank  five  feet  thick,  the  passage  to  the  vent  being  secured  from  damp- 
ness and  nealed  powder  packed  in  a  box  leading  to  the  vent,  the  piece 
charged  with  twelve  pounds  of  powder  and  one  thirty-two  pound  shot 
secured  with  plenty  of  wadding.  On  giving  fire  no  sound  was  produced, 
and  no  violent  action  of  the  water.  Numerous  air  bubbles  came  to  the 
surface.  The  shot  went  through  the  five  feet  of  water  and  through  the 
target,  tearing  it  in  many  pieces.  In  the  open  air  on  Governor's  Island  the 
same  day,  a  thirt)'-two  pounder  cannon  was  charged  with  twelve  pounds  of 
powder  and  one  shot,  and  fired  at  a  target  of  the  material  and  dimensions 
just  mentioned,  at  two  hundred  and  fifty  yards  distance.  The  shot  pene- 
trated four  and  a  half  feet,  and  much  shattered  the  frame  of  the  target. 
This  experiment  was  made  to  show  what  could  be  done  by  su.spending 
cannon  over  the  side  of  a  ship  and  running  close  alongside  an  enemy's  ship. 

The  last  of  this  month  of  June  my  cousin  William  R.  Swift  left  us  to 
proceed  to  the  South,  and  I  proceeded  to  West  Point  to  inspect  the 
Academy,  and  my  family  accompanied  me.  We  returned  ist  July,  when,  on 
n;p(irting  to  the  Secretary  of  War  the  condition  of  the  Academy,  I  also 
stated  the  incipient  measures  of  the  corporation  of  New  York,  and  received 
orders  from  the  Secretary  to  render  every  aid  in  my  power  to  such  plan 
of  protection  as  the  city  might  adopt.  On  15th  sent  Lieutenant  James 
Gadsden   to  commence  the  works  of  Hallet's  Point,  a  block-house  on  Mile 


GENERAL  JOSEPH  GARDNER  SWIFT.  133 

Rock,  and  a  tower  in  the  rear  of  the  Point  to  cover  the  right  of  our  line  of 
defence.  On  the  same  day  the  mayor  and  my  late  chief,  Colonel  Jonathan 
Williams,  Major  Fairley,  General  Morton,  (an  industrious  and  most  useful 
public  officer  and  patriot,)  were,  with  my  father.  Dr.  Swift  and  General 
Stevens,  assembled  at  the  Point,  and  there  named  the  position  Fort 
Stevens  in  honor  of  the  general,  our  companion,  a  patriot  of  the  Revo- 
lution, and  a  prominent  officer  of  artillery  at  Saratoga  in  1777;  who 
gave  the  party  a  dinner  at  Mt.  Napoleon,  his  country  seat,  in  honor  of 
the  occasion. 

On  17th  July  commenced  the  works  on  Harlem  Heights  at  Mt.  Alto  on 
the  Hudson,  extending  thence  by  McGowan's  Pass  and  the  elevated  ground 
that  overlooks  Harlem  Flat  to  Hell  Gate.  The  trenches  were  opened  by  a 
detachment  of  volunteers,  citizens  from  the  city,  under  Major  Horn,  a 
Revolutionary  worthy.  This  line  is  taken  in  preference  to  an  advanced  one, 
because  money  and  men  are  not  yet  at  command. 

On  26th  July,  with  the  committee  of  defence,  urging  the  call  upon  the  citi- 
zens to  turn  out  and  occupy  Brooklyn  Heights.  A  party  of  one  thousand 
paraded  at  my  quarters  on  August  6th,  and  broke  ground  on  Fort  Green. 
By  8th  of  the  month  the  details  became  regular  of  citizen  volunteers,  each 
party  working  one  day  from  sun  to  sun,  yielding  a  force  ranging  from  one 
thousand  two  hundred  to  two  thousand  per  day,  at  Brooklyn  and  Harlem. 

On  29th  August  Governor  Tompkins  and  the  mayor  (Mr.  Clinton,)  with 
the  committee  of  defence,  adopted  my  organization  of  forces  to  man  the 
works  now  constructing;  General  Armstrong  assuring  that  one  thousand 
six  hundred  regular  troops  would  be  at  our  command  in  a  few  days.  We 
had  an  encampment  of  three  thousand  militia,  a  gun  boat,  and  sea  fencible 
force  of  five  hundred  men;  Commodore  Decatur  had  seven  hundred  sailors 
at  command,  General  Morton  had  one  thousand  five  hundred  and  General 
Mapes  one  thousand  five  hundred  enrolled,  at  one  hour's  call.  The 
exempts  of  the  city  enrolled  themselves,  one  thousand  five  hundred  ;  two 
corps  under  Samuel  Swartwout  and  J.  B.  Murray,  Esquires,  were  also 
formed.  The  steamboats  were  put  in  requisition  to  bring  three  thousand 
from  Orange  and  Duchess  Counties  ;  General  Jeremiah  Johnston,  of  Long 


134  THE  MEMOIRS   OF 

Island,  had  one  thousand  men  under  his  very  prompt  and  able  command  ; 
Newark  offered  three  thousand  and  lower  Jersey  three  thousand.  Thus  we 
had  at  call  twenty  thousand  three  hundred  citizen  soldiers.  They  were 
habitually  under  arms,  and  taught  the  ordinar)'  marching  and  firing.  I  had 
the  temporary  office  of  inspector-general,  and  visited  all  these  corps  and 
examined  their  arms,  flints,  and  ball  cartridges,  and  established  expresses. 
Addressed  the  citizens  at  the  city  hall,  and  counselled  that  no  citizen  should 
leave  New  York  but  on  urgent  necessity.  In  reference  to  the  sick  and 
disabled,  caused  the  "Ten,"  and  other  public  houses  out  of  the  city  to  be 
put  in  order  with  wards,  nurses,  stores  and  surgeons.  The  mode  of  defence 
was  thus  arranged  in  case  the  enemy  landed.  It  was  my  part  to  lead  to 
the  shore,  and  Commodore  Decatur  to  cover  the  flanks.  The  whole  force 
encamped  on  Harlem  Heights  and  at  Brooklyn  at  any  one  time  did  not 
exceed  twelve  thousand  rank  and  file.  My  functions  in  the  busy  scene 
were  various.  The  committee  of  defence  gave  little  heed  to  the  regular 
functions  of  staff  officers,  and  expected  from  me  not  only  my  own  profes- 
sional statement  to  them  of  the  progress  upon  what  they  termed  my  lines 
of  defence,  but  also  an  account  of  the  progress  of  the  ordnance  construc- 
tions, the  state  of  the  artillery,  the  quartermaster-general's  department  and 
of  the  hospitals;  in  accomplishing  which  the  aid  of  the  officers  of  all  depart- 
ments was  freely  given,  all  of  them  estimating  justly  the  exigency  of  the 
times,  and  waiving  the  observance  of  the  ordinary  routine  of  accountability 
to  the  committee,  passed  through  my  hands  all  the  facts  that  were  essential 
to  enable  the  committee  to  estimate  and  acquire  from  the  city  corporate 
authorities  the  pecuniary  means  to  execute  our  plan  of  defence.  I  had  fine 
health  and  an  excellent  saddle  horse,  to  whom  the  wags  gave  the  name  of 
"Flim  Nap,"  after  one  of  the  heroes  of  the  Dean,  who  carried  me  at  half 
speed  from  and  to  Harlem  and  Brooklyn  with  ease,  twice,  and  sometimes 
three  and  four  times  in  a  day,  thus  enabling  me  to  forward  the  working 
parties  of  citizens.  My  principal  aid-de-camp  was  Lieutenant  James 
Gadsden  of  the  United  States  engineers,  who  was  of  efficient  and  untiring 
ability.  General  Jacob  Morton  and  General  John  Mapes ;  the  comptroller 
of  the  city,  Thomas  R.  Mcrcein,   and    most   especially  General   Nicholas 


GENERAL  JOSEPH  GARDNER  SWIFT.  135 

Fish,  chairman  of  the  committee  of  defence,  and  Major  Horn  were  constant 
aids  to  my  labors,  and  many  others  of  the  citizens  of  both  New  York  and 
Brooklyn  ;  in  the  latter,  Joshua  Sands,  Esq.,  was  prominent.  My  extra  aids- 
de-camp  were  Messrs.  James  Renwick,  John  K.  Berg^vin,  William  Proctor, 
and  William  Kemble  — the  first  and  third  topographers.  Mr.  Holland, 
the  artist,  volunteered  his  graphic  services  to  avoid  duty  in  the  line  of 
troops,  and  gave  us  more  than  twenty  sketches  of  various  parts  of  the  line 
of  works  and  adjacent  scenery.  The  zeal  of  the  citizens,  led  on  by  the 
most  respectable  gentlemen  of  the  city  in  daily  labor  with  the  pick  and 
shovel,  had  in  a  few  weeks  accomplished  an  incredible  amount  of  work  upon 
the  lines.  To  these  efforts  the  eloquence  of  the  city,  the  patriotic  song 
and  thrilling  story  lent  their  aid  and  natural  influence.  Hawkins'  sono-s. 
and  the  apt  and  facetious  sallies  of  Maxwell  were  not  among  the  least 
incentives  to  labor.  The  display  of  valor  of  our  navy,  and  the  heroism  of 
our  troops  on  the  frontier  gave  vigor  to  the  army  of  youth  and  age  in  our 
trenches,  and  finally  the  vandalic  folly  of  Britain  in  burning  the  national 
archives  at  Washington  in  the  month  of  September,  topped  the  climax  of 
feeling  that  kept  our  citizens  with  entrenching  tools  in  their  hands  until 
the  parapets  across  York  and  Long  Island  were  bristling  with  ordnance, 
that  gave  token  of  our  readiness  for  defence.  This  desirable  state  of  our 
armament  was  attained  by  the  close  of  the  month  of  November,  and  the 
lines  occupied  by  the  troops  fcom  the  several  encampments  of  Brooklyn 
and   Harlem. 

On  27th  December  I  received  orders  from  the  War  Department  to 
proceed  in  the  ensuing  January  to  Baltimore,  as  a  member  of  a  military 
board  to  revise  the  present,  and  form  a  new  system  of  infantry  tactics  for 
the  United  States  army. 

In  the  two  years  past  I  have  endeavored  to  promote  the  interests  of  the 
Military  Academy  by  selecting  the  intellectual  sons  of  my  most  respectable 
acquaintance,  and  inviting  them  to  apply  to  the  Secretary  of  War  for  cadet's 
warrants.  Among  the  number  is  William  McNeill,  the  son  of  my  friend  Dr. 
Daniel  McNeill  of  Wilmington,  N.  C. ;  whom,  meeting  on  my  way  to 
West  Point,  and  he  on  his  way  to  commence  theological  study  with  Rev.  Mr. 


136  THE  MEMOIRS   OF 

Wyatt  of  Newtown,  L.  I.,  he  (William)  found  my  purpose  suitable  to  his 
propensities,  and  so  took  him  with  me  to  the  Point.  He  has  been  there 
now  several  months,  and  gives  evidence  of  being  suited  to  the  place. 

1815.  In  pursuance  of  the  orders  of  27th  ultimo  I  proceeded  from  head- 
quarters, Brooklyn,  to  Baltimore  on  5th  of  January,  where  on  9th  the  board 
to  revise,  etc.,  assembled.  Its  composition  was  General  W.  Scott,  Brevet- 
General  J.  G.  Swift,  Colonel  J.  R.  Fenwick,  Colonel  William  Gumming  and 
Colonel  William  Drayton,  with  Captain  John  M.  Glassell  as  secretary. 
This  board  continued  in  sessions  until  the  25th  February,  when  it  completed 
its  duties  and  reported  the  same  to  the  Secretary  of  War,  by  whom  I  was 
directed  to  have  the  plates  executed  and  engraved,  and  six  thousand  copies 
of  the  new  book  printed  at  New  York.  While  on  this  duty  at  Baltimore  I 
received  a  summons  from  Judge-Advocate  Martin  Van  Buren,  Esq.,  to 
appear  at  the  trial  of  General  Wilkinson  at  Troy,  N.  Y.,  as  a  witness.  I 
wrote  the  Secretary  of  War  of  my  receipt  of  this  order,  to  know  whether 
I  was  to  leave  the  board  in  obedience  to  the  summons.  No  reply  was  made 
to  my  letter,  and  I  pursued  my  duties  at  the  board.  I  knew  that  the  trial 
had  no  object  of  a  national  character  in  view.  I  did  not  feel  inclined  to 
recount  at  that  trial  the  weakness  exhibited  by  Wilkinson  at  Thorp's  House 
on  the  margin  of  the  St.  Lawrence  in  November,  18 13,  because  Wilkinson 
was  no  more  in  fault  than  Hampton  for  the  failure  of  the  campaign,  and 
because  Wilkinson  had  written  to  General  Armstrong  a  favorable  account 
of  my  conduct  on  the  field  at  Chrysler's  farm,  and  because  I  knew  that  the 
campaign  was  in  no  wise  influenced  by  the  scene  at  Thorp's,  and  I  had  so 
stated  the  facts  of  the  day  and  night  to  General  Armstrong.  Mr.  Monroe 
at  this  time  discharged  the  double  duty  of  minister  of  war  and  state. 
Between  himself  and  General  Armstrong  there  did  not  exist  any  amicable 
relations.  The  scenes  at  Bladensburg  and  Washington  in  the  last  year  had 
embittered  the  feelings  of  each  to  the  other,  and  General  Armstrong  had, 
by  resigning  the  War  Department,  given  strength  to  his  opponents.  On 
my  way  to  Baltimore  I  had  met  him  in  Philadelphia,  and  said  to  him  on 
perusing  his  memorandum  of  a  letter  of  resignation,  that  "in  my  opinion 
that  letter  would  place  a  cudgel  in  the  hands  of  Mr.  Madison." 


GENERAL  JOSEPH  GARDNER  SWIFT.  137 

However,  a  choice  of  duties  being  left  to  me  by  the  War  Department,  I 
preferred  the  duty  on  the  board  at  Baltimore.  It  is  true  that  a  summons  to 
a  court  martial  is  imperative,  and  to  neglect  the  mandate  may  expose  one 
to  arrest  and  trial ;  but  knowing  of  the  animosity  subsisting  between  the 
parties  to  this  trial  at  Troy,  I  had  no  inclination  to  appear  for  or  against 
either  as  a  witness,  and  heard  no  more  of  the  summons. 

The  assembling  of  the  military  board  at  Baltimore  had  brought  thither 
several  prominent  officers  of  the  army  in  addition  to  the  board,  and  to 
those  who  formed  the  general  staff  of  the  military  command  of  the  United 
States  district  in  that  city.  The  probable  campaign  in  the  ensuing  spring 
was  a  general  theme  of  conversation  among  us,  in  the  midst  of  which,  on 
13th  of  February,  came  the  news  of  a  treaty  of  peace  having  been  signed  at 
Ghent.  On  the  same  day  arrived  the  account  of  the  defeat  of  the  British 
army  before  New  Orleans  by  General  Jackson.  The  consequent  illum- 
ination of  the  city,  combining  a  double  celebration  of  events,  in  a  calm 
night  when  everything  was  covered  with  snow,  formed  a  very  impressive 
scene.  In  the  centre  of  a  window  in  Market  Street  I  observed  a  bril- 
liant star  embracing  the  whole  window,  in  the  centre  of  which  was  a 
quotation  from  Shakspeare's  Henry  VI.:  "Relieved  is  Orleans  from  the 
British  wolves." 

On  1 7th  of  the  month  I  was  called  to  Washington  to  consult  with  the 
Secretary  of  War  upon  a  plan  to  reduce  the  army  to  a  peace  establishment. 
The  board  had  also  been  called  upon  to  report  its  opinion  on  that  subject. 
On  waiting  upon  the  President  I  found  him  greatly  improved  in  health,  and 
overjoyed  at  the  conclusion  of  the  war. 

The  general  idea  of  Congress  seemed  to  be  to  reduce  the  army  to  a 
standard  upon  which  an  army  of  fifty  thousand  men  might  be  engrafted, 
which  the  provisions  of  the  law  fell  far  below  the  proper  scale  to  sustain. 
The  old  theme  of  competency  of  militia  became  rife,  and  Congress  provided 
to  resume  the  services  of  forty  thousand  thereof  in  case  of  need.  An 
appropriation  of  the  sums  of  four  hundred  thousand  dollars,  and  two 
hundred  thousand  dollars,  was  made  to  carry  on  the  fortifications.  An 
extended  organization  of  the  Military  Academy  was  proposed,  and  to  that 


138  THE   MEMOIRS   OF 

effect  I  recommended  that  two  of  our  best  officers,  to  wit,  Colonel 
INIcRee  and  Major  Thayer,  should  be  sent  to  Europe  to  examine  the 
works  of  France,  etc.,  and  on  the  Rhine  and  low  countries,  and  to  form 
a  librar)-  for  the  Academy. 

After  sending  to  the  various  officers  of  the  engineers  orders  to  inspect 
the  condition  of  the  works  on  the  fortifications,  in  order  to  repair  through- 
out the  Atlantic  ports,  I  returned  on  3d  March  to  my  family  in  Brooklyn, 
with  whom  the  Rev.  Mr.  Empie  had  passed  the  winter,  and  where  Mrs. 
Swift  had  received  the  account  of  the  death  of  her  only  sister,  Harriet,  Mrs. 
Osborne,  in  North  Carolina.  On  my  way,  at  Philadelphia,  with  my  former 
chief.  Colonel  Williams,  and  examined  the  arrangements  made  to  resist  any 
land  attempts  that  the  British  might  have  made,  and  gave  him  a  description 
of  the  works  erected  around  Baltimore  for  similar  purposes;  and  also  gave 
him  a  sketch  of  what  had  been  done  on  York  and  Long  Islands  —  positions 
well  known  to  him  —  and  the  plans  had  his  professional  approbation. 

On  7th  of  March,  at  Brooklyn,  received  from  the  committee  of  defence 
of  the  city  the  proceedings  of  the  corporation  in  reference  to  my  services 
in  the  past  year.  They  had  requested  my  portrait,  to  be  executed  by  the 
executive  John  Wesley  Jarvis,  to  be  placed  in  the  city  hall  as  a  memorial; 
and  they  resolved  that  I  was  a  benefactor  to  the  city.  They  also  sent  to 
Mrs.  Swift  my  half-length  portrait,  also  done  by  Jarvis,  together  with  forty- 
three  pieces  of  silver,  and  also  presented  me  a  case  of  silver  drawing  instru- 
ments, and  a  very  handsome  pleasure  barge,  by  which  to  amuse  my  family 
and  friends  in  excursions  over  the  bay  of  New  York. 

On  15th  of  the  month  I  presented  to  the  committee  of  defence  a  general 
view  of  the  system  of  defence,  and  the  plans  of  all  the  works  that  had  been 
constructed  by  citizen  labor;  the  whole  comprised  in  a  folio  atlas,  with  my 
report,  containing  also  my  acknowledgements  of  the  aid  that  I  had  received 
from  Lieutenant  James  Gadsden,  my  aid-dc-camp.  He  was  of  the  corps  of 
engineers,  and  grand-son  of  the  patriot  General  Christopher  Gadsden  of 
South  Carolina;  and  also  acknowledging  the  services  of  Messrs.  Renwick, 
Proctor,  Kemble  and  others,  including  the  artist  Holland.  The  artist  Jarvis, 
before  mc;ntioned,  is  the  grantl-son  of  the  great  John  Wesley,  the  leader  of 


GENERAL  JOSEPH  GARDNER  SWIFT.  139 

Methodism.     Mr.  Jarvis   has   many  fine   quaHties   as  an   artist,  and  great 
social  ablhty. 

On  1 2th  April  gave  instructions  to  Colonel  McRee  and  Major  Thayer  to 
proceed  to  France  as  recommended  to  the  Secretary  of  War  and  President 
in  February  last,  and  those  gentlemen  sailed  from  Boston  on  loth  June  in 
the  United  States  frigate  "Congress." 

On  20th  June,  returning  from  an  inspecting  tour  to  West  Point,  I  met 
Captain  John  M.  Glassel,  the  secretary  of  the  board,  and  arranged  with 
him  to  aid  me  in  consulting  the  printer  and  engraver  to  print  the  work 
done  in  Baltimore  upon  infantry  tactics.  The  work  was  immediately  com- 
menced by  Mr.  Mercein  and  others. 

On  nth  July,  in  pursuance  of  orders  from  the  War  and  Navy  Depart- 
ments, proceeded  to  Newport,  R.  I.,  and  met  Commodores  Bainbridge  and 
O.  H.  Perry,  the  three  forming  a  commission  with  instructions  to  explore 
Narragansett  Bay  and  its  tributary  waters,  with  a  view  to  the  selection  of  a 
position  for  a  navy  depot,  which  order  was  laboriously  executed,  including 
Providence  and  Taunton  Rivers,  Fall  River  and  the  Watupper  Ponds.  Our 
report  to  the  department  at  Washington  agreed  in  opinion  that  Newport 
Harbor  was  the  most  important  post  for  navy  refuge  on  the  coast  of  the 
United  States.  The  report  also  embraces  a  system  for  the  defence  of  the 
depot,  including  the  various  approaches  by  land  and  water,  and  also  com- 
mending the  closing  of  the  passage  between  Conanicut  Island  and  the  main 
land  by  a  dyke  of  large  stone,  that  might  afterwards  be  removed  if  found 
desirable  to  do  so.  On  24th  July  the  commission  returned  to  my  office  in 
Brooklyn,  and  thence  forwarded  our  report  to  the  War  and  Navy  Departments. 

On  15th  August  I  proceeded  to  an  inspection  at  West  Point,  and  found 
much  difficulty  in  keeping  the  place  furnished  with  needful  supplies,  and 
was  obliged  to  incur  many  debts  to  sustain  the  Academy.  Returned  to  the 
city  early  in  September,  and  in  correspondence  with  the  War  Department 
found  that  funds  could  not  be  sent  from  the  treasury.  By  the  authority  of 
the  Secretary  of  War  I  attempted  to  negotiate  a  loan  from  the  banks  of  the 
city,  which  every  one  of  them  declined  as  unsuited  to  their  mode  of  doino- 
business.     In  fact  they  did  not  like  the  security  —  the  pledge  of  the  depart- 


\ 


I40  THE  MEMOIRS  OF 

ment  to  pay  the  loan  as  soon  as  Congress  supplied  the  means  —  a  far-off 
event  in  the  opinion  of  the  banks  in  the  then  reduced  value  of  treasury  notes. 
In  this  dilemma  I  met  Jacob  Barker,  who  liked  the  security  on  the  condition 
that  I  would  draw  upon  him  for  not  more  than  ten  thousand  dollars  per 
week,  and  thus  in  the  course  of  six  weeks  I  received  sixty-five  thousand 
dollars  from  him  in  bank  paper,  and  thereby  prevented  a  disbandment  of 
the  Military  Academy  and  a  suspension  of  the  repairs  on  the  fortifications 
in  New  York  Harbor.  Taking  the  then  condition  of  "public  credit"  into 
view  I  deem  this  act  of  Mr.  Barker  to  be  in  a  high  degree  patriotic. 
He  is  to  receive  seven  per  cent,  per  annum  until  the  loan  be  paid. 

On  5th  September  invited  to  a  dinner  given  to  Hon.  Mr.  Clay,  Rufus 
King  and  Albert  Gallatin. 

In  October  sent  my  views  to  the  Secretary  of  War  for  securing  the 
fortifications  of  the  United  States  from  dilapidation  pending  the  scarcity  of 
money,  and  also  in  case  of  relief  from  the  pressure,  what  new  works  might 
be  commenced  in  18 16  if  the  view  given  met  his  approbation,  and  was 
sustained  by  Congress ;  the  whole  amount  contemplated  being  eight 
hundred  and  thirty-eight  thousand  dollars. 

At  the  close  of  the  month  of  October  my  father  and  mother  came  from 
Boston,  to  pass  the  winter  in  my  family  in  Washington  Street,  Brooklyn. 
My  sister  Sarah  and  her  son  Julius  also  arrived  in  the  month  of  November, 
leaving  her  daughter  Louisa  at  nurse  in  Boston.  My  sister  was  confined 
at  my  house  with  her  daughter  Delia.  My  brother-in-law,  Mr.  Eli  W. 
Adams,  and  my  cousin,  William  R.  Swift,  were  then  establishing  themselves 
in  business  in  Baltimore.  I  gave  them  letters  to  Robert  Oliver,  Esquire, 
who  aided  them  with  loans.  This  course  of  Air.  Oliver  was  habitual  with 
him  toward  young  men  of  business.  Adams  and  Swift  were  much  bene- 
fitted thereby,  and  Mr.  Oliver,  on  my  thanking  him  for  his  volunteer  aid  in 
this  matter,  informed  me  that  Adams  and  Smith  had  punctually  refunded 
the  loan. 

On  2 1  St  December  Lieutenant  Gadsden  and  myself,  accompanied  by  my 
sister  Sarah  and  her  children,  took  a  private  carriage  to  Philadelphia,  where 
we  were  joined  by  Professor  F.  R.  Hassler,  and  arrived  in  Baltimore  on 


GENERAL  JOSEPH  GARDNER  SWIFT.  141 

28th.  Gadsden,  my  aid-de-camp,  and  myself  proceeded  to  Washington, 
and  by  order  of  the  Secretary  of  War  established  the  headquarters  of  the 
corps  of  engineers  in  a  part  of  the  house  of  Mrs.  King,  the  widow  of 
Nicholas  King,  long  a  draughtsman  to  the  War  Department;  and  after 
preparing  the  reports  for  commencing  the  works  upon  the  fortifications  I 
sent  Lieutenant  Gadsden  to  General  Andrew  Jackson,  who  had  written  me  a 
request  to  select  a  suitable  officer  to  serve  as  his  aid-de-camp.  Having 
entire  confidence  in  the  ability  and  character  of  Gadsden  I  thus  deprived 
myself  of  his  services,  believing  that  the  measure  would  promote  the 
interests  of  a  very  deserving  man,  in  a  field  of  larger  scope  than  his  aidship 
to  me  could  offer. 

1816.  In  addition  to  the  ordinary  duties  of  my  office  in  Washino-ton  I 
had  many  communications  with  the  President  and  Secretary  of  War  during 
the  month  of  January',  upon  improvements  and  extension  of  the  Military 
Academy,  with  a  view  to  inviting  to  that  institution  some  officers  from  the 
military  schools  of  France.  The  question  was  whether  to  place  these 
officers  as  professors  at  the  Academy,  or  to  attach  them  to  the  corps  of 
engineers  in  a  bill  about  to  be  prepared  by  the  military  committee  of 
Congress. 

In  February  I  proceeded  down  the  Potomac  with  Lieutenant  Colonel 
Armistead  and  Major  Roberdeau,  to  examine  Cedar  Point  as  a  site  for  a  fort. 
On  our  return  to  Washington  in  the  sloop  that  had  been  chartered  for  this 
service,  the  ice  cut  the  bottom  of  the  vessel  so  that  she  sunk  on  a  shoal 
below  Alexandria,  and  we  escaped  to  the  shore,  with  some  difficulty,  with 
our  instruments  and  papers. 

While  in  conversation  with  the  President  on  the  subject  of  this  defence 
of  the  approach  to  Washington,  he  expressed  an  opinion  that  Captain 
Partridge  might  be  detailed  on  the  duty  connected  with  this  contemplated 
work,  or  on  some  other  duty  that  would  relieve  him  from  West  Point.  My 
reply  to  this  was  that  to  displace  Captain  Partridge  suddenly,  and  without 
assigning  the  cause,  could  not  be  just  to  his  official  rights.  The  President 
assented  to  the  correctness  of  this,  but  said :  Captain  Partridge  is  not 
deemed  by  the  Secretary  of  War  the  most  suitable  officer  of  engineers  for 


142  THE  MEMOIRS    OF 

duty  at  the  Academy.  I  called  immediately  on  the  Secretary  of  War  and 
stated  these  circumstances.  He  said  the  matter  would  be  considered 
further,  and  that  though  he  should  not  interfere  with  any  order  in  reference 
thereto  he  would  prefer  that  I  should  send  some  officer  of  engineers  to 
relieve  Captain  Partridge.  I  then  stated  to  Mr.  Crawford  that  the  service 
of  superintending  at  West  Point  was  not  desirable  to  any  officer  of  the 
corps.  The  subject  was  deferred  until  I  had  made  my  visit  of  inspection. 
I  then  departed  for  an  inspection  of  Fort  McHenry,  at  Baltimore,  where, 
on  my  arrival,  I  took  lodgings  with  my  brother-in-law  Adams,  in  St.  Paul's 
Lane,  and  after  visiting  Fort  McHenry  proceeded  to  Fort  MiBin  in  the 
Delaware,  and  thence  to  my  quarters  in  Brooklyn  on  the  last  day  of 
February.  Early  in  March  found  me  at  West  Point  with  Captain  Partridge, 
to  whom  I  was  not  at  liberty  to  communicate  what  had  passed  between  Mr. 
Madison,  Mr.  Crawford  and  myself.  I  however  said  that  he  had  enemies 
at  Washington.  I  was  at  this  time  taken  ill  with  ague,  and  detained  at  the 
hospitable  quarters  of  Mrs.  Mansfield,  and  was  relieved  by  the  extraction 
of  my  front  tooth,  and  did  not  reach  my  family  in  Brooklyn  until  early  in 
April ;  finding  there  our  first  daughter,  Sarah  Delano,  born  in  my  absence 
on  30th  March. 

On  2  2d  April  I  was  apprised  by  letter  from  Lieutenant  S.  H.  Long,  that 
the  purpose  of  the  President  was  to  so  conform  to  the  new  bill  before  Con- 
gress, by  introducing  a  skillful  engineer  from  France  into  the  corps  of  engi- 
neers, and  that  it  was  rumored  that  the  plan  had  received  my  approbation. 
By  the  return  mail,  on  23d  April,  I  wrote  to  the  Hon.  Jeremiah  Mason,  and 
to  the  Hon.  William  Lowndes,  an  inquiry  what  was  the  actual  purpose  of  the 
President,  for  I  had  received  no  intimation  from  the  War  Department  in 
relation  to  this  matter  since  the  conversation  before  mentioned  in  January. 
Their  replies  show,  that  to  expedite  the  passage  of  the  bill  before  alluded  to 
in  January,  members  of  Congress  were  informed  that  the  bill  was  in  accord- 
ance with  my  opinions.  Without  delay  I  wrote  to  the  Secretary  of  War 
that  the  only  accordance  on  my  part  in  this  matter  was  e.xpressed  in  the 
conversation  that  I  had  with  him  and  the  President  in  January. 

On  2d  May  the  Secretary  of  War  wrote  me  to  assign  the  appropriation, 


GENERAL  JOSEPH   GARDNER  SWIFT.  1 43 

eight  hundred  and  thirty-eight  thousand  dollars,  to  the  different  works  in 
the  United  States,  "to  facilitate  operations,"  etc. 

On  the  8th  of  that  month  I  returned  to  the  Secretary  of  War  my 
opinion  on  the  subject  of  his  letter,  designating  one  hundred  and  seventy 
thousand  dollars  for  repairs  of  fortifications  and  two  hundred  and  three 
thousand  dollars  for  finishing  the  works  that  had  been  commenced,  leaving 
four  hundred  and  sixty-five  thousand  dollars  for  newly  projected  works.  A 
letter  Irom  the  Secretary  of  War  was  now  on  its  way  to  me,  dated  on  the 
same  8th  May,  stating  that  at  the  close  of  the  late  session  of  Congress  the 
President  had  been  authorized  to  employ  General  Bernard,  or  some  other 
"  skillful  engineer,"  through  the  agency  of  Hon.  Albert  Gallatin,  and  that 
until  the  arrival  of  that  engineer  the  commencement  of  new  works  would 
be  postponed.  (See  my  files,  A.)  On  2  ist  May  I  replied  to  the  Secretary  of 
War,  (see  B,)  to  which  he  rejoined  on  i  ith  June,  (as  in  C,)  and  to  which  I 
replied  on  ist  July,  (as  in  D,)  which  documents  I  requested  my  friends, 
Hon.  Rufus  King  and  Hon.  Oliver  Wolcott,  to  examine  and  favor  me  with 
their  opinions.  Mr.  King  invited  Mr.  Wolcott  and  myself  to  dine  with  him 
at  Jamaica  for  the  purpose  of  that  examination;  both  of  these  gentlenjen 
having  been  long  conversant  with  governmental  affairs,  and  both  of  them, 
by  their  conduct  in  the  late  war,  not  unduly  influenced  by  party  politics. 
They  gave  me  the  opinion  that  my  views,  as  expressed  in  D,  were  sound 
and  just.  To  this  letter  D,  Mr.  Crawford  replied  as  in  E;  all  of  which  are 
of  record  in  the  engineer  department  at  the  war  office  at  Washington. 

Pending  these  discussions  the  works  on  the  fortifications  of  the  United 
States  were  in  no  other  way  progressing  than  in  the  ordinary  repairs. 

In  July  a  large  meeting  in  the  city  to  form  the  American  and  Foreign 
Bible  Society;  Joshua  Sands  and  J.  G.  Swift  members  from  Long  Island. 

The  French  engineer,  selected  by  the  Marquis  de  La  Fayette  and  Mr. 
Gallatin,  was  General  Bernard,  who  this  summer  arrived  in  New  York,  and 
had  his  interviews  with  the  Secretary  of  War  and  the  President,  without  my 
being  informed  of  the  nature  of  that  intercourse.  The  general,  however, 
when  he  came  to  the  city,  was,  with  his  family,  received  by  mine  with  hospi- 
tality, and  by  myself  and  the  corps  at  large  was  treated  with  every  personal 


144  ^^^  MEMOIRS   OF 

respect ;  and  every  facility  in  my  power  was  offered  to  him,  by  a  view  of 
all  our  plans  and  reports,  to  enable  him  to  acquire  a  knowledge  of  the 
military  defences  of  the  country,  in  order  that  so  skillful  an  engineer  —  and 
one  in  whom  Napoleon  had  reposed  much  confidence  —  might  suggest  the 
correction  of  any  error  that  our  young  corps  of  officers  might  have 
committed. 

This  humiliating  act  of  my  country  made  me  very  unhappy,  added  to 
which  the  War  Department  made  an  essay  to  place  me  in  a  position  where 
my  sentiments  might  least  influence  my  brother  officers  of  engineers. 
Accordingly  on  9th  September  the  Secretary  of  War  wrote  me  that  Captain 
Partridge  did  not  conduct  the  Military  Academy  satisfactorily  to  the  Presi- 
dent ;  that  it  was  necessary  for  me  to  repair  to  West  Point  as  soon  as  my 
official  duties  elsewhere  would  permit,  and  there  to  establish  the  headquar- 
ters of  the  corps  of  engineers,  and  to  assume  in  person  the  superintend- 
ence of  the  Academy,  in  conformity  with  the  laws  that  had  been  in  a  species 
of  abeyance  during  and  since  the  wai",  by  reason  of  my  absence  in  various 
parts  of  the  Union,  on  duty.  In  obedience  of  which  order,  on  i6th  Novem- 
ber, I  went  to  West  Point,  and  relieved  Captain  Partridge,  and  assumed  the 
superintendence,  etc.,  on  25th  of  that  month. 

Soon  after  this  I  received  from  the  Secretary  of  War  a  letter  of  19th 
November,  informing  me  that  a  board  of  engineers  had  been  formed  by 
order  of  the  President,  and  that  General  Bernard  had  been  appointed  a 
bricradier-general  by  brevet,  as  second  in  command,  and  that  the  general 
had  been  ordered  to  report  himself  to  me  at  West  Point,  to  receive  my 
views  of  his  functions  on  said  board. 

On  2d  December,  General  Bernard  reported  himself  to  me  at  the  Point, 
and  became  my  guest.  At  my  instance  we  discussed  the  propriety  of  intro- 
ducing foreign  officers  into  the  engineer  department  of  any  country ;  General 
Bernard  maintaining  that  it  had  been  the  common  practice  of  France  and 
Russia.  On  my  part  it  was  deemed  impolitic,  at  least,  to  place  in  the  hands 
of  any  foreign  nation  a  knowledge  of  all  our  assailable  points  of  defence, 
and  means  to  occupy  them,  however  high  and  honorable  might  be  the 
character  of  the   individuals    of  any   foreign    nation    so  employed.     This 


GENERAL  JOSEPH   GARDNER  SWIFT.  145 

argument  was  maintained  in  mutual  good  temper.  I  said  to  General 
Bernard  that,  lest  he  might  misunderstand  the  principle  upon  which  I 
acted,  or  be  misinformed  by  rumor  or  otherwise,  I  placed  in  his  hands  the 
correspondence  with  the  Secretary  of  War,  A,  B,  C,  D,  E,  before  mentioned, 
and  advised  him  to  peruse  them  at  his  leisure  before  his  return  to  West 
Point  from  Rouse's  Point,  where  he  was  going  to  meet  Lieutenant  Colonel 
Totten  to  inspect  the  work  in  progress  at  that  place.  I  gave  him  a  letter 
of  introduction  to  Lieutenant  Colonel  Totten,  and  the  general  departed  on 
6th  December. 

My  reflections  upon  the  course  of  the  government  in  this  matter  are 
that  my  talents  as  chief  engineer  are  assumed  to  be  inferior  to  those  of 
General  Bernard,  which  may  be  a  correct  opinion,  for  I  have  not  had  the 
experience  of  that  distinguished  man  ;  in  reference  to  which  I  had  stated 
to  the  government  that  the  benefit  of  that  experience  could,  with  some 
deference  to  the  pride  of  a  corps  that  had  been  created  at  the  Military 
Academy,  be  secured  to  the  country  by  placing  General  Bernard  at  the 
head  of  an  engineer  professorship  at  West  Point.  To  be  sure  the  corps  of 
engineers  is  composed  of  young  men,  nevertheless,  during  the  late  war 
they  had  been  found  respectable  in  their  vocation,  and  all  of  the  corps  who 
had  been  in  the  field  had  been  honored  by  brevets.  Whether  the  forts  on 
the  Atlantic  coast  had  been  judiciously  located  and  constructed,  it  was  a 
fact  that  all  the  principal  forts  had  kept  the  enemy  at  bay  during  the  late 
war.  On  the  whole  I  come  to  the  conclusion  that  it  is  due  to  my  country', 
and  to  the  corps,  that  I  command,  so  to  cooperate  with  General  Bernard, 
under  the  law  of  i6th  February  last,  as  to  prove  to  the  country  that  I  am 
influenced  by  a  sense  of  duty  and  not  by  mere  selfishness. 

On  2 1  St  December  I  wrote  to  the  Secretary  of  War  what  had  passed 
between  General  Bernard  and  myself,  and  also  gave  him  my  opinion  that 
in  reference  to  the  commission  given  to  General  Bernard  I  doubted  the 
power  of  the  President  to  confer  on  him  the  rank  expressed,  which  com- 
mands all  inferior  in  rank  to  obey  him.  To  this  letter  I  received  from  the 
Secretary  of  War  his  reply  of  30th  December,  which  made  it  evident  that 
the  executive  had  purposed  to  place  me  in  a  position  to  make  it  difficult  to 


146  THE  MEMOIRS   OF 

interfere  with  the  professional  functions  of  General  Bernard  as  his  superior 
officer.  This  determined  me  to  adopt  a  mild  and  steady  course  of  duty  as 
chief  engineer,  to  avert  the  tendency  of  the  course  of  the  executive  so  far  as 
the  law  would  sustain  me,  and  if  not  successful  to  resign  my  commission.  My 
purpose  was  not  to  retard  or  impede  the  public  service,  and  therefore  I  sent 
to  every  officer  of  the  corps,  on  fortification  duty,  my  orders  to  receive  and 
obey  any  instruction  or  order  for  the  progress  of  the  ivorks  that  might 
emanate  from  General  Bernard,  as  if  coming  direct  from  myself. 

The  establishing  of  my  family  at  West  Point,  to  wit,  Mrs.  Swift,  my  sons 
James  and  Williams,  and  my  daughter  Sarah,  had  occasioned  me  much 
additional  expense  ;  leaving  my  sons  Alexander  and  Julius  with  my  aunt 
Lucretia  Lovering,  at  housekeeping  in  my  quarters  in  Washington  Street, 
Brooklyn,  and  taking  the  Rev.  Leverett  Bush  into  my  family  at  the  Point  as 
a  teacher  to  my  sons.  He  also  performed  the  functions  of  chaplain  to 
the  Military  Academy,  the  Rev.  Mr.  Empie  having  returned  to  his  former 
residence  in  Wilmington,  N.  C.  My  son  Thomas  D.  was  residing  with  his 
grand-father.  Dr.  Swift,  the  United  States  surgeon  on  Governor's  Island. 
The  winter  a  severe  season,  the  Hudson  closed  by  ice,  thus  rendering 
intercourse  between  the  divided  portions  of  my  family  tedious  and  very 
troublesome.  The  last  day  of  the  year,  while  a  party  of  cadets  were  dining 
with  me  a  fire  broke  out  in  my  quarters,  that  soon  assembled  other  cadets, 
who  in  a  few  minutes  removed  the  furniture  and  books  from  the  house,  and 
on  extinguishing  the  fire  replaced  the  same,  so  that  our  dinner  party 
enjoyed  their  feast  in  the  hall  where  many  a  social  party  had  assembled  in 
the  previous  days  of  our  then  chief.  Colonel  Williams.  These  quarters 
were  known  as  "The  Colonel's  Quarters." 

18 1 7.  The  new  year  was  ushered  in  by  a  salute  of  twenty-four,  eighteen 
and  twelve-pounder  cannon,  in  which,  from  the  negligence  of  the  gunner 
in  tending  the  vent,  fire  was  given  the  cartridge  while  in  the  act  of  "ram- 
ming home,"  which  killed  cadet  Vincent  M.  Lowe,  a  promising  youth  of 
eighteen  years,  the  only  son  of  a  widowed  mother.  His  death  was  occa- 
sioned by  concussion,  and  without  any  bruise.  The  funeral  procession  was 
one  of  the  most   impressive  scenes  in  its  march  across  the  plain  to  the 


GENERAL  JOSEPH  GARDNER  SWIFT.  147 

burial  ground  on  the  extremity  of  the  German  Flat,  in  a  gusty  snow  storm, 
which  alternately  concealed  and  exposed  the  party  in  its  route. 

On  6th  closed  contracts  with  John  Forsyth,  of  Newburgh,  to  construct 
several  brick  quarters  at  the  Point.  On  my  return  from  Newburgh  found 
"the  Hills  on  fire"  by  the  careless  conduct  of  some  boys,  my  sons  James 
and  Williams  being  the  principals  in  the  mischief;  and  which  was  extin- 
guished with  much  delay. 

On  7th  January  Lieutenant-Colonel  Totten  and  General  Bernard  arrived 
at  West  Point  from  Rouse's  Point,  on  Lake  Champlain,  to  consult  upon  the 
further  duties  of  inspection  by  the  board  of  engineers.  General  Bernard 
.  returned  to  me  the  documents  before  mentioned,  and  declined  any  further 
discussion  in  reference  to  their  subject ;  upon  which  I  informed  him  that  no 
change  would  be  made  by  me  in  the  course  I  had  determined  to  pursue,  the 
first  act  of  which  would  be  to  attach  myself  to  the  board  of  engineers, 
unless  forcibly  prevented  by  the  executive.  In  the  pursuance  of  which 
purpose  I  wrote  the  Secretary  of  War  that  business  of  importance  to  the  corps 
of  engineers  would  require  my  presence  in  Washington  as  soon  as  the 
examination  then  in  progress  was  completed  at  the  Academy. 

On  loth  January  General  Bernard  and  Lieutenant-Colonel  Totten  left 
West  Point  to  proceed  to  the  Pea  Patch  in  the  Delaware  River,  to  discuss  a 
plan  for  a  fortress  for  that  place. 

On  13th  of  the  month,  with  my  aid,  Lieutenant  George  Blaney,  left 
West  Point,  and  proceeded  by  land  to  the  city  of  New  York,  and  visited 
my  children  in  Brooklyn,  and  my  parents  and  son  Thomas  on  Governor's 
Island,  and  thence  to  Washington.  Knowing  that  the  administration  of 
Mr.  Madison  would  soon  expire,  I  called  on  him  and  made  known  to  him 
my  views  in  a  request  that  the  functions  of  the  board  of  engineers  should 
be  conducted  under  my  orders,  and  not  those  of  the  acting  Secretary  of 
War,  Mr.  Graham,  who  had  given  instructions  to  the  board,  merely  sending 
me  copies  thereof  for  my  government.  To  this,  my  proposal,  Mr.  Madison 
consented,  and  I  was  relieved  from  personal  superintendence  of  the  Military 
Academy,  and  therefore  sent  my  orders  to  Captain  Partridge  to  resume  his 
functions  as  superintendent;  and  to  give  attention  to  the  progress  of  the 


148  THE  MEMOIRS   OF 

new  Academy  and  the  new  brick  quarters  then  constructing,  under  the 
appropriation  by  Congress  of  one  hundred  and  fifteen  thousand  dollars. 
The  library  was  enlarged,  for  which,  and  contingencies,  Congress  had 
appropriated  twenty-two  thousand  dollars. 

On  4th  of  March,  at  the  accession  to  the  presidency  of  Colonel  Monroe, 
I  went  to  pay  my  respects  to  Mr.  and  Mrs.  Madison,  from  both  of  whom  I 
had,  for  eight  years,  received  kind  attentions.  Mrs.  Madison,  from  respect- 
able humble  life  had  become  not  only  an  ornament  to  her  husband's  family, 
but  also  a  beneficent  dispenser  of  his  bounty.  This  lady  has  a  generous 
spirit,  with  bland  and  courteous  manners,  rather  above  the  middle  size,  and 
very  expressive  blue  eyes.  Many  an  asperity  of  party,  and  its  threatened 
personal  consequences,  have  been  averted  by  Mrs.  Madison's  timely  and 
judicious  interposition.  Mr.  Madison  is  below  the  middle  stature  of  man, 
has  a  quiet,  dignified  deportment,  and  the  aspect  of  one  who  had  been  long 
experienced  in  public  affairs.  His  manner  is  easy  and  his  language  refined, 
of  social  qualities  and  fond  of  story-telling.  The  part  he  performed  in  the 
great  constitutional  convention,  and  in  the  convention  of  Virginia  at  the 
adoption  of  that  instrument,  and  his  papers  in  the  Federalist,  evince  great 
wisdom.  But  one  act  of  his  life  has  marred  the  purity  of  his  character, 
though  that  act  elevated  him  to  the  presidency,  namely,  his  abandonment 
of  Federalism  and  adopting  the  Utopian  democracy  of  Thomas  Jefferson, 
which  has  so  precipitated  democratic  influence  as  to  give  public  measures  a 
stand  too  far  in  advance  of  the  intelligence  of  the  people. 

Mr.  Madison's  mind  and  disposition  are  averse  to  military  pursuits. 
During  the  war  he  had  conceived  no  plan  for  its  military  conduct,  evinced 
little  talent  in  selecting  commanders,  and  was  far  too  exclusive  in  a  party 
sense  in  those  selections.  The  only  exception  among  the  generals  was  that 
of  Thomas  Pinckney,  the  force  of  whose  national  character  could  not  easily 
be  resisted. 

It  is,  however,  due  to  Mr.  Madison  to  say  that  on  the  urgent  views  of 
Commodores  Stewart  and  Bainbridge  he  opposed  a  major  voice  in  his 
cabinet,  and  sent  the  navy  to  seek  the  enemy  on  the  ocean.     This  was  done 


GENERAL  JOSEPH  GARDNER  SWIFT.  1 49 

adversely  to  the  steady  advice  of  Mr.  Gallatin  not  to  expose  our  little  fleet 
to  the  powerful  navy  of  England. 

On  nth  March,  by  appointment  with  President  Monroe,  presented  my 
views  of  a  suitable  position  for  General  Bernard,  namely,  at  the  Military 
Academy  as  a  professor  of  engineering.  Mr.  Monroe  replied  that  under 
the  resolve  of  i6th  February  such  could  not  be  done  until  the  gentleman 
had  examined  our  defences,  but  that  he  had  determined  that  General 
Bernard  should  not  exercise  command  in  any  case,  and  that  he  considered 
me  to  be  the  head  of  the  board  of  engineers ;  therefore  I  gave  the  board 
instructions  to  proceed  to  the  Gulf  of  Mexico,  and  there  be  joined  by 
Captain  Gadsden,  the  engineer  in  that  department.  On  the  return  of  this 
board  to  my  office  in  Washington  I  exercised  my  function  of  supervision, 
and  preferred  Captain  Gadsden's  system  of  defence  of  the  main  passes  into 
Louisiana.  But  the  Secretary  of  War,  Mr.  Calhoun,  who  could  know  but 
little  of  the  science  of  the  subject,  rejected  Gadsden's  plans,  which  then 
and  now  are  justly  suited  to  the  localities  for  which  they  are  planned,  and 
Mr.  Calhoun  adopted  General  Bernard's  pentagons,  that  have  since  been 
found  to  be  inappropriate  in  a  military  sense.  In  fact  this  error  of  Mr. 
Calhoun  aided  to  infect  members  of  Congress  with  an  idea  that  General 
Bernard  had  a  transcendent  genius,  and  therefore  he  must  be  consulted 
upon  all  public  works ;  as  if  he  had  been  possessed  of  intuitive  knowledge 
of  a  subject  that  could  only  be  acquired  by  actual  residence  in  our  country 
a  suitable  period  of  time. 

March  15th,  by  direction  from  the  President,  I  surveyed  the  ruins  in  the 
capitol  —  the  vandalic  ruin  of  18 14.  In  this  duty  Colonel  Bomford  and 
myself  formed  a  board.  The  question  to  be  decided  was  whether  the 
capitol  should  be  rebuilt  entire,  or  the  existing  walls  retained  and  the 
interior  repaired.  We  commended  the  latter,  and  on  receiving  from  Mr. 
Latrobe  the  requisite  plans  and  elevations  for  the  senate  chamber,  I  took 
them  with  me  to  New  York,  and  employed  Francis  Kain  to  complete  the 
marble  colonade  and  other  parts  of  that  chamber,  and  shipped  the  same  to 
Colonel  Lane,  the  superintendent  at  Washington. 

On   25th   March,   Bomford   and    myself  accompanied    the    President    to 


150  THE  MEMOIRS   OF 

explore  the  Bresica  Quarries  on  the  Potomac,  and  it  was  therefore  decided 
to  use  the  same  for  the  colonade  of  the  house  of  representatives.  This 
excursion  was  made  on  horseback,  and  on  the  way  back  to  the  city  tlie 
President  informed  me  that  he  purposed  making  a  tour  of  inspection  of 
the  fortifications  and  navy  yards  in  the  Union,  and  that  he  should  require 
my  services  to  aid  him  in  that  excursion.  I  am  of  course  gratified  by  such 
an  evidence  of  the  President's  purpose.  But  I  on  this  occasion,  and  on 
several  others,  stated  to  him  that  my  official  relations  had  been  much  invaded 
by  the  resolution  of  i6th  February,  and  that  it  would  better  comport  with 
my  own  wishes  and  the  interests  of  my  family  to  seek  civil  life,  if  the 
President  could  place  me  in  a  suitable  office  with  that  view.  His  reply 
was  kind.  He  said  he  hoped  I  would  not  leave  the  army,  and  that  at  any 
rate  I  would  be  patient  and  await  events.  I  stated  to  him  that  I  had  already 
made  some  incipient  arrangements  to  improve  my  fortune,  with  Gouverneur 
Kemble,  to  establish  a  foundry  on  the  Hudson. 

On  4th  April  arranged  with  the  President  to  join  him  in  Baltimore  early 
in  June,  to  proceed  there  and  elsewhere  on  his  contemplated  tour,  and  after 
making  all  official  dispositions  of  orders  to  the  officers  of  the  corps  for  the 
few  works,  as  at  Rouse's  Point,  etc.,  and  small  repairs  upon  the  existing 
works  pending  the  action  and  duty  of  the  board,  I  proceeded  to  Philadel- 
phia on  9th  and  arranged  with  an  old  friend  of  the  President,  James  Gard, 
Esquire,  to  secure  as  quiet  a  sojourn  in  that  city  as  his  official  station  could 
permit,  and  on  14th  April  joined  my  family  at  Brooklyn,  where  Mrs.  Swift, 
James,  Willy  and  Sally  had  two  days  previously  rejoined  my  aunt  Lovering 
and  my  sons  Alexander  and  Julius  in  Washington  Street,  having  been 
separated  all  the  winter  by  the  closing  of  the  Hudson.  My  son  Thomas 
still  with  his  grand-father  on  Governor's  Island,  in  New  York  Harbor. 

April  2 1  St  to  West  Point,  and  examined  the  Academy ;  thence  with 
Gouverneur  Kemble  to  Captain  Philipse,  who  resided  on  the  opposite  bank 
of  the  river,  and  proposed  to  this  worthy  gentleman  (the  proprietor  of  the 
once  manor  of  his  name,  and  whose  honor  this  gentleman  maintained  with 
steady  hospitality,)  that  he  should  unite  with  us  in  establishing  a  foundry, 
and  to  which  end  we  proposed  to  take  about  two  hundred  of  his  acres  on 


GENERAL  JOSEPH  GARDNER  SWIFT.  15  I 

Margaret  Brook  as  so  much  of  his  share  of  stock,  and  to  which  he  assented, 
and  agreed  that  I  should  survey  and  plot  the  tract.  Accordingly,  with  my 
compass,  I  paced  around  a  tract  enclosing  full  two  hundred  acres,  and  to 
which  hasty  survey  Captain  Philipse  agreed,  and  set  to  his  hand  and  seal. 
Mr.  Kemble  and  myself  had  formed  a  conditional  agreement  with  the  War 
and  Navy  Departments  of  the  United  States  to  supply  the  government  with 
one-third  of  their  ordnance  castings;  and  subsequently  he  and  myself 
visited  the  large  iron  works  of  Mr.  Coleman  in  Pennsylvania,  and  the 
Salisbury  works  in  Connecticut,  to  inform  ourselves  in  iron  making;  and  I 
imported  from  England  through  Mr.  Hassler,  a  standard  of  measure,  and 
from  Paris  the  best  works  on  iron  and  steel  making-. 

On  24th  April  I  laid  out  on  the  ground  the  new  north  and  south  stone 
barrack  that  had  been  planned  by  Professor  C.  Crozet,  and  contracted  with 
T.  J.  Woodruff  and  John  Morse,  of  the  city  of  New  York,  to  construct  that 
building,  and  returned  to  Brooklyn  early  in  May. 

On  24th  of  which  month  went  to  Governor's  Island,  and  thence  with  my 
mother  and  sister  Mary  departed  for  Baltimore ;  the  latter  on  a  visit  to  my 
sister,  Mrs.  Adams  and  cousin  W.  R.  Swift,  in  St.  Paul's  Lane. 

On  1st  June  the  President  arrived  in  Baltimore  with  his  suite,  to 
commence  a  tour  of  inspection. 


TOUR  OF  PRESIDENT  MONROE 


IN  THE  NORTHERN    UNITED   STATES,  IN   THE  YEAR  1817, 

IN   WHICH   HE  WAS  ACCOMPANIED   BY  THE  WRITER  OF  THIS  DIARY, 

J.   G.   SWIFT. 

I  was  in  Washington  in  March  and  April  of  this  year  in  company  with 
Colonel  George  Bomford  of  the  ordnance,  examining  the  ruins  of  the 
capitol  in  order  to  its  repair,  in  which  we  were  assisted  by  Mr.  Latrobe,  the 
architect.  This  capitol,  and  other  public  and  private  edifices  had  been 
destroyed  by  the  British  army  under  command  of  General  Ross  and 
Admiral  Cockburn  in  18 14. 

President  Monroe  invited  me  to  accompany  him  in  an  horseback  excur- 
sion to  the  Bresica  Quarries  on  the  Potomac,  from  which  it  had  been 
proposed  to  take  materials  to  repair  and  ornament  the  hall  of  representa- 
tives and  senate  chamber  of  the  capitol.  This  visit  had  decided  the  matter, 
and  the  material  was  used  for  those  purposes.  During  this  excursion  Mr. 
Monroe  mentioned  his  intention  to  make  the  tour  of  the  Union,  to  examine 
its  defences,  navy  yards,  etc.,  and  to  see  the  people.  He  wished  me  to 
so  arrange  my  official  affairs  as  to  accompany  him  in  the  examination,  in 
order  to  do  which  I  proceeded  to  New  York  to  direct  the  continuance  of 
the  fortifications  in  that  harbor,  and  visited  West  Point  to  direct  the  opera- 
tions of  the  Military  Academy  for  an  inspection  of  the  President,  and 
returning  to  Baltimore  on  ist  June,  met  Mr.  Monroe  there,  accompanied  by 
a  son  of  General  Mason,  of  Georgetown,  and  Mr.  Monroe  and  suite  called 
to  see  Charles  Carrol  of   Carrolton,  the  venerable  patriot.     He  and  Mr. 


154  THE  MEMOIRS   OF 

Monroe  exchanged  several  remarks  on  the  scenes  of  the  Revolution.  Then, 
with  General  Samuel  Smith  and  N.  G.  Harper,  etc.,  visited  the  battle  ground 
of  North  Point,  where,  in  September,  1814,  General  Ross  lost  his  life  by 
an  accidental  rifle  shot.  From  the  account  given  by  General  Striker  to  Mr. 
Monroe  one  would  suppose  both  parties  had  been  surprised.  Returning, 
we  viewed  the  misplaced  lines  of  Baltimore,  that  should  have  occupied  the 
passes  of  North  Point,  etc.  The  President  passed  on  to  review  the  militia, 
and  to  examine  Fort  McHenry  with  General  Samuel  Steritt — (very  gentle- 
manly and  accomplished  in  manner)  —  and  also  with  Colonel  Paul  Bentalon, 
an  officer  of  the  army  of  Rochambeau,  his  aspect  that  of  the  old  French 
politesse  of  1780;   full  of  memory  of  the  scenes  of  Yorktown. 

On  3d  June  the  President  went  to  Head  of  Elk  by  steamer,  and  was  there 
received  by  the  Philadelphia  and  Delaware  delegations,  and  especially  by 
Colonel  Allen  McLean,  full  of  anecdotes  of  the  movements  of  Washington 
to  beleaguer  Cornwallis.  The  colonel  had  been  a  distinguished  and 
most  useful  officer,  having  still  the  fire  of  youth  in  his  manner.  Also 
General  Moses  Porter,  whose  giant  person  still  wore  a  fresh  aspect.  He 
had  been  distinguished  as  an  artillery  officer  in  the  discomfiture  of  Lord 
Sterling  on  Long  Island,  August,  '76,  and  who  had  by  merit  and  long 
service  risen  from  a  sergeant.  Here  also  we  met  Commodores  Murray  and 
Stewart  of  the  navy,  and  General  Thomas  Cadwallader,  of  Philadelphia — 
the  thorough  gentleman.  At  Newcastle  we  found  Captain  Babcock,  of  my 
corps,  with  all  things  ready  to  take  barge  to  the  Pea  Patch,  down  the  Dela- 
ware; a  site  which  the  Hon.  Mr.  Rodney  informed  the  President  had  been 
taken  up  by  Chief  Justice  Booth  of  Delaware  in  1780.  A  useful  position 
to  defend  the  double  channels  of  the  river.  Thence  the  President  ascended 
the  Delaware  to  the  Brandywine,  and  with  Colonel  Allen  McLean  rode  over 
the  grounds  where  Washington  incurred  the  censure  of  some  congressmen 
for  "  extending  his  wing."  Colonel  McLean  pointed  out  the  ground  and 
the  need  of  that  extension,  a  just  military  movement. 

The  party  visited  Du  Pont's  powder  mills,  and  General  Cadwallader  and 
myself  tested  the  drying  rooms  for  four  minutes  at  a  temperature  of  one 
hundred  and  forty-five  degrees   Farenheit.     We  were  here  joined  by  the 


GENERAL  JOSEPH   GARDNER  SWIFT.  155 

venerable  Mr.  Logan,  of  Pennsylvania,  and  passing  the  rich  meadows  of  the 
Delaware,  came  by  boats  to  Fort  Miflin,  that  had  been  well  defended  by 
Colonel  Samuel  Smith  in  the  Revolution.  From  Fort  Miflin  the  party 
proceeded  in  barges  to  the  mouth  of  the  Schuylkill,  at  Gray's  Ferry,  and 
with  a  large  militia  escort,  and  the  city  committee,  to  the  mansion  house  of 
Mr.  James  Head,  there  meeting  the  Society  of  Cincinnati,  with  addresses 
and  reply  and  entertainment.  The  next  morning  —  6tli  June  —  made  an 
excursion  to  Red  Bank,  where  the  farmers  met  the  President,  some  of  whom 
were  of  the  assailing  party  against  Count  Donop  ;  and  they  mentioned  that 
the  timber  felled  at  that  time  (In  August)  had  endured  many  years,  proving 
that  to  be  a  better  felling  season  than  the  winter.  The  next  day  took  a 
horseback  ride  with  several  prominent  citizens  to  Germantown  and  Chew 
House,  where  General  Howe  should  have  conquered  our  army,  and  cut  off 
their  retreat.  The  interchange  of  courtesy  of  the  President  and  the  country 
people  was  very  pleasant.  He  found  the  arsenal  and  navy  yard  in  as  good 
order  as  expected ;  aided  by  General  C.  Irvine  and  Commodore  Stewart  in 
the  examination. 

At  the  instance  of  the  President  I  called  on  Messrs.  Dachkoff,  Ten  Gate, 
Redemker,  Peduson  and  other  foreign  officers,  to  say  that  it  would  be  more 
convenient  to  receive  them  when  he  was  not  engaged  with  his  fellow 
citizens.  Mr.  Monroe  observed  that  for  less  causes  he  had  been  denied 
access  to  foreign  courts  when  he  was  minister  to  England,  France,  and 
Spain. 

Hon.  Pierce  Butler,  General  Cadwallader,  Secretary  Long,  Commodore 
Stewart,  Ingersoll,  Bache  and  Todd  dined  with  the  President.  One  would 
have  imagined  the  "  blood  of  the  Ormonds"  had  concentrated  in  Mr.  Butler. 

On  7th  June  the  party  was  received  at  the  Bridge  at  Trenton  by  the 
New  Jersey  delegation,  congratulating  Colonel  Monroe  "  on  the  ground 
where  Washington  achieved  an  important  turn  in  our  affairs  in  the  winter 
of  '76;  where  Mr.  Munroe,  the  second  officer  of  the  vanguard,  and  Captain 
William  Washington,  were  both  wounded  in  the  shoulder."  Mr.  Monroe 
replied:  "I  feel  sensibly  this  attention  in  this  place  from  the  citizens  of 
Trenton ;  on  the  spot  where  the  hopes  of  the  country  were  revived  by  a 


156  .  THE  MEMOIRS    OF 

prompt  expedition  planned  by  Washington."  The  press  of  time  prevented 
the  President  from  visiting  Commodore  Stewart  at  his  farm.  Mr.  Monroe 
remarking  to  say  to  the  Commodore:  "The  country  owed  him  much  for 
encouraging  Mr.  Madison  to  send  our  ships  to  sea  in  the  war  with  England 
in  18 1 2,  against  the  advice  of  Mr.  Gallatin  to  keep  them  in  safe  harbor. 
The  country  owed  both  him  and  Bainbridge  much  for  their  zealous  counsel 
before  the  cabinet  on  that  momentous  occasion."  I  bore  this  nice  message 
to  Stewart  and  dined  with  him. 

The  party  made  a  call  on  Joseph  Bonaparte  en  route  to  lunch.  Joseph 
seemed  an  unpretending  common  sense  gentleman,  thoughtful  face,  and 
like  his  brother's  busts.  The  President  and  Joseph  were  old  acquaintances. 
Return  to  Trenton  and  Princeton,  where  Mr.  Monroe  was  inducted  to  the 
Cliosophia,  and  from  my  relations  to  Mr.  Monroe  I  was  also  inducted,  after 
examining  the  Halls  of  Nassau.  There  with  Governor  Williamson  and 
ex-Governor  Aaron  Ogden  to  Elizabethtown  on  the  9th  June,  and  met  the 
widow  of  Neursewitz,  the  friend  of  Kosciusko.  The  lady  is  the  daughter 
of  Governor  William  Livingston,  and  sister  of  Mrs.  John  Gay.  At  the 
Point  took  steam  to  Staten  Island,  and  became  the  guests  of  Vice-President 
Tompkins  for  a  part  of  two  days,  to  rest,  and  on  iith  landed  at  the 
Battery,  meeting  General  Scott,  General  Morton,  and  the  city  authorities; 
then  explored  the  lines  of  Brooklyn,  refreshing  with  Mrs.  Switt,  who  had 
Joshua  Sands,  Major  Tucker  and  Mr.  March  to  meet  the  President;  and 
then  to  the  city  to  encounter  numerous  entertainments.  One  at  the  Philo- 
sophical Society,  when  Hon.  De  Witt  Clinton  made  an  eloquent  address, 
occupying  13th  and  14th.  The  following  day  the  party  at  West  Point,  and 
Mr.  Monroe  met  the  officials  in  the  garden  of  Kosciusko,  and  there  he  related 
the  following  story  of  that  Pole :  When  Kosciusko  came  from  Europe 
wounded  he  seemed  unable  to  move  when  applying  to  Congress,  and 
received  a  grant  of  land.  It  was  said  lameness  was  assumed  to  excite 
sympathy  among  cool-blooded  members.  Mr.  Monroe  said  it  was  not 
feigned,  but  to  impress  a  Russian  spy  that  he  was  no  longer  able  to  wield  a 
sword,  who  was  so  impressed;  and  Kosciusko  resumed  his  health  lost  in  a 
Russian  prison.     Mr.  Monroe  said  Kosciusko  had  been  a  faithful  friend  to 


GENERAL  JOSEPH   GARDNER  SWIFT.  157 

'  the  American  cause,  and  that  he  had  recently  remitted  him  several  hundred 
dollars  to  sustain  him  in  his  retreat  in  Switzerland.  This  sojourn  at  West 
Point,  and  the  examination  of  the  cadets,  was  very  refreshing  after  city 
fatigues.  It  was  at  this  visit  determined  that  Captain  Partridge  should  be 
brought  before  a  court  martial  in  reference  to  his  disagreement  with  the 
professors.  My  opinion  of  the  captain  was  more  favorable  than  Mr. 
Monroe's,  but  the  Chief  Magistrate  was  to  be  obeyed,  and  I  accordingly 
proposed  a  substitute  in  Major  Thayer,  who  was  the  officer  named  lo  me 
by  Mr.  Monroe ;  and  I  gave  Captain  Partridge  choice  of  any  duty  or  leave 
until  the  court  could  be  convened.  He  preferred  leave,  and  the  matter 
rested  for  the  present. 

On  17th  June  the  party  returned  to  the  city  to  inspect  fortifications, 
navy  yard,  and  the  steamer  "  Fulton."  At  the  west  end  of  Lone  Island  Mr. 
Monroe  met  Hon.  Rufus  King,  and  they  witnessed  the  experiments  of 
elongated  shell  at  a  target  four  hundred  yards  distant,  on  Robert  L. 
Stevens's  place.  The  shells  penetrated  the  target  but  did  not  explode. 
On  20th  June  to  Hell  Gate  and  the  entrance  of  the  Sound,  in  reference  to 
the  location  of  a  navy  depot  at  Barr  Island;  then  by  steam  to  New  Haven. 
Visited  the  colleges  and  the  "Groves  of  the  Judges."  Mr.  Monroe  was 
taken  by  surprise  by  a  sermon  from  Rev.  Dr.  Taylor,  an  extreme  Calvinist, 
much  to  the  chagrin  of  the  Rev.  Horace  Holly,  a  high  Unitarian.  One  of 
the  most  interesting  scenes  we  met  at  Hartford  in  the  exhibition  of  the 
deaf  and  dumb,  by  Le  Clerc  and  Gallaudet.  Mr.  Monroe  had  seen  a  similar 
exhibition  in  France.  At  Middletown  the  address  of  the  citizens  was 
emphatic,  and  national  in  every  sense.  A  delegation  from  Massachusetts 
waited  on  the  President  at  Hartford  to  escort  him  to  Springfield,  where,  on 
arriving  24th  June,  an  exhibition  of  five  hundred  school  children  met  the 
President  on  the  parade  as  a  token  of  their  respect  for  the  Chief  Magistrate, 
and  evidence  of  adhesion  to  the  Puritan  law  in  favor  of  town  schools.  Thence 
Colonel  Roswell  Lee  led  the  way  to  the  well-arranged  armory  of  the  United 
States,  of  which  he  was  superintendent,  and  had  been  my  assistant  engineer 
in  fortifying  New  London  when  the  British  fleet  were  anchored  in  Gardner's 
Ba)'.     Thence  retracing  his  steps  the  President  descended  the  left  bank  of 


158  THE  MEMOIRS  OF 

the  Connecticut  River  to  New  London,  at  the  residence  of  General  Jedediah 
Huntington,  of  Revolutionary  times,  who  addressed  the  President  in  touching 
allusion  to  "  the  war  in  their  youth,  and  the  happy  results  we  were  enjoying 
after  surviving  a  second  contest  with  the  power  of  England."  Here  the 
party  was  joined  by  Commodores  O.  H.  Perry  and  Bainbridge,  and  my 
father,  the  surgeon  of  the  post  at  Fort  Trumbull.  Taking  the  revenue 
cutters  at  the  fort  the  President  visited  the  Sound  and  Gardner's  Bay,  where 
the  navy  officers  explained  to  the  President  the  importance  of  an  armed 
vessel  at  Gardner's  Bay  by  a  view  from  the  headland  of  the  island. 
Returned  up  the  Thames,  and  landed  at  the  foot  of  Fort  Griswold.  At  the 
old  fort  the  President  met  Mr.  Avery  and  others  who  had  been  among  the 
defenders  of  that  post  when  assailed  by  the  British  under  then  Major,  now 
General  Bloomfield,  and  explaining  the  scene  that  occurred  when  Colonel 
Ledyard  surrendered  his  sword,  and  Bloomfield  turned  it  and  thrust  it 
through  Colonel  Ledyard's  body  —  a  dastardly  act  —  after  all  resistance  had 
ceased  ;  followed  by  the  cruelty  of  trundling  the  wounded  down  the  hill  in 
carts,  inflicting  torture.  Mr.  Avery  had  lost  an  eye  in  the  contest ;  the 
remaining  one  twinkled  with  rage  as  he  described  the  scene.  Here  the 
celebrated  Mrs.  Baily  came  forward  and  recounted  her  well-remembered 
exploits,  vouched  for  by  the  surrounding  veterans,  and  of  her  disrobing  her 
flannel  to  furnish  cartridge  to  the  artillery  men. 

On  the  following  day  the  United  States  brig  "  Enterprise,"  attended  by 
the  cutters,  (among  them  the  aged  Captain  Cahoon,  of  privateer  heroism  in 
the  Revolution,)  took  on  board  the  President  and  suite,  and  by  Gardner's 
Bay  on  27th  June  crossed  the  Sound  to  Stonington,  which  the  President 
especially  visited  to  compliment  the  brave  Captain  Palmer  for  his  towns- 
men —  led  by  himself — in  repelling  the  assault  of  the  "  Ramillies,"  seventy- 
four.  Sir  Thomas  Hardy.  My  own  interview  with  Mr.  Palmer  was  inter- 
esting. 1  had  succeeded  in  sending  him  some  cannon  and  ammunition  in 
1 8 14  from  New  York,  by  a  cunning  master  of  a  sloop,  which  succeeded  in 
escaping  the  enemy.  The  captain  had  ornamented  the  front  of  his  hou.se 
with  a  thirteen-inch  shell  from  the  "  Ramillies,"  which  had  fallen  through  his 
roof  to  the  cellar,  fortunately  without  exploding,  though  it  had  shattered 


GENERAL  JOSEPH  GARDNER  SWIFT.  159 

mucli  in  its  descent.  On  the  following  day  the  little  squadron  entered 
Newport  Harbor,  where  most  hearty  feeling  was  shown  without  a  shade  of 
party.  The  President  had  a  charming  evening  with  the  venerable  William 
Ellery  at  the  age  of  ninety.  He  remarked:  "  Ah,  Mr.  Monroe,  we  all  had 
prospects  of  the  death  of  rebels,  especially  such  as  myself,  who  had  little 
of  this  world's  goods  to  lose,  but  Hancock  and  Charles  Carroll  had  launched 
both  character  and  large  estates  in  the  cause."  The  patriot  was  reading 
Horace  when  Mr.  Monroe  called.  He  took  a  seat  by  Mr.  Monroe  in  an 
excursion  to  the  scene  of  Quaker  Hill  in  Sullivan's  campaign,  and  seemed 
familiar  with  the  events  of  the  day. 

On  30th  we  proceeded  to  Fall  River  and  the  Watupper  Lakes,  as  a  source 
to  serve  machinery  for  a  navy  depot,  and  thence  crossed  Taunton  River  to 
Mount  Hope  Bay,  refreshing  and  lodging  with  Lieutenant-Governor 
Collins  and  Mr.  De  Wolf,  and  thence  onward  to  Providence.  Here,  Hon.  H. 
G.  Otis,  Colonel  Gray,  General  Blake,  Colonel  Sumner,  Messrs.  Thorndike 
and  Oliver,  (the  colonel  as  aid  of  Governor  Brooks,)  came  to  lead  the 
escort.  Mr.  Otis,  in  an  eloquent  address,  alluded  and  compared  the  visit 
with  its  only  precedent,  that  of  Washington  ;  accompanying  the  President 
to  Brown  University,  and  on  ist  July  to  the  manufactories  of  Pawtucket ; 
meeting  there  General  Dearborn  and  Justice  Story — a  rival  committee  of 

welcome  coming  expressly  from  the  Democracy,  giving  me  some  trouble 

but  all  that  was  said  :  "Gentlemen,  be  pleased  to  fall  in  and  form  a  part  of 
the  cortege,"  which  arrived  at  Dedham,  and  took  lodgings  opposite  the 
residence  of  the  great  Fisher  Ames.  The  next  day  ceremonial  consulta- 
tions as  to  the  two  committees  at  an  old  redout  on  Roxbury  Neck,  both 
committees  desiring  to  take  charge  of  the  President.  I  took  on  myself  to  say 
to  both  :  "  Gentlemen,  the  care  and  conduct  of  this  movement  has  been  o-iven 
to  me,  and  I  cannot  surrender  it  without  the  President's  order."  Pendino-  this 
interchange  the  salute  opened  from  the  old  redout  and  the  Boston  mar- 
shals, and  the  committee,  without  further  delay,  moved  on  with  the  cavalcade 
to  Boston  Common,  and  the  President  was  received  by  four  thousand  boys 
and  girls  and  their  instructors ;  a  scene  of  courtesy  well  conducted,  that  the 
children  will  remember,  and    which  served  to  occupy  committees  and  all 


l6o  THE  MEMOIRS   OF 

until  joined  by  ex-President  Adams,  Governor  Brooks,  Lieutenant-Governor 
David  Cobb,  Governor  Phillips  and  General  James  Miller  (the  modest  hero,) 
Rev.  Dr.  Kirkland,  Daniel  Webster,  Isaac  P.  Davis  and  Rev.  Dr.  Freeman. 
The  Governor  opened  with  a  word  in  his  peculiar  graceful  style,  followed 
by  the  address  of  the  authorities  in  the  area  of  the  Exchange,  which  was 
followed  by  one  of  Boston's  sumptuous  entertainments  in  rooms  orna- 
mented with  the  works  of  Boston  artists  and  citizens.  The  next  day  the 
President  and  Governor  Brooks,  etc.,  visited  the  fortifications  of  the 
harbor.  The  President  was  highly  gratified  by  his  reception  in  several 
families  of  Boston,  and  especially  at  Governor  Brooks'  in  Medford, 
and  his  neighbor  cousin.  They  rode  over  the  scenes  of  Washington  in 
his  early  command  of  the  army,  when  Brooks  was  his  youthful  attendant. 
The  ensuing  day  was  Independence,  commencing  with  a  fine  breakfast  of 
some  hundreds  at  Commodore  Bainbridge's,  in  Roxbury,  in  this  abundant 
season  of  strawberries  and  cream.  Thence  a  sojourn  to  the  gardens  of 
Colonel  T.  H.  Perkins  ;  to  Waltham,  on  a  visit  to  Governor  Gore  ;  to  the 
United  States  arsenal,  and  in  the  evening  a  pleasant  meeting  with  the 
Society  of  Cincinnati.  But  the  distinctive  character  of  the  Democracy 
revived,  and  the  committee  called  for  a  reply  to  the  separate  address.  Mr. 
Monroe  calmly  said:  "Gentlemen,  I  will  reply  amply  to  your  address,  and 
in  writing,  at  my  earliest  leisure."  This  was  said  while  the  procession  was 
moving  to  the  Old  South  with  the  Cincinnati,  to  hear  the  eloquence  of  Dr. 
Channing — a  happy  allusion  to  the  visit  of  the  President,  not  to  a  party, 
but  to  the  whole  people.  Now  came  on  a  general  meeting  at  the  State 
House,  where  the  influence  of  fruit  and  champaigne  seemed  to  quiet  for  a 
time  the  ground  swell  of  party.  This  indicated  a  fear  lest  the  Chief 
Magistrate  should  compromise  his  Democratic  duty.  Hence  to  the  "Cradle 
of  Liberty,"  Faneuil  Hall,  and  a  display  of  arms.  The  next  day  to  the 
navy  yard  and  "Independence,"  seventy-four;  entertained  by  the  com- 
mandant, the  gallant  Hull,  and  thence  to  Bunker's  Hill,  where  Governor 
Brooks  explained  with  simple  clearness  the  progress  of  the  day  and 
Warren's  fall,  that  lighted  a  flame  through  all  the  colonies.  In  this  scene 
several  veterans  of  the  Revolution   were  received  and  welcomed   by  the 


GENERAL  JOSEPH   GARDAER  SWIFT.  l6l 

President,  and  with  him  enjoyed  the  tasty  Hght  dinner  and  fruits  of 
Governor  Broolcs,  with  ex-President  Adams  and  Dr.  Osgood.  Monday, 
7th,  an  early  ride  on  Iiorseback  with  Mr.  Monroe  to  a  sitting  to  the  artist, 
Gilbert  Stewart,  who  exhibited  his  original  head  of  Washington.  Thence 
to  Harvard,  where  President  Kirkland  conferred  the  honor  of  LL.  D.  on 
Mr.  Monroe,  and  then  to  a  review  of  two  thousand  militia  on  Boston 
Common. 

On  8th  the  President  visited  the  venerable  John  Adams  at  Ouincy.  The 
ex-President  said  to  Mr.  Monroe:  "Sir,  I  am  happy  to  welcome  you  and 
your  friends,  and  to  acknowledge  my  high  appreciation  of  the  distinction 
which  you  propose  to  confer  on  my  son  as  Secretary  of  State."  But  the 
gust  of  feeling  that  naturally  flowed  from  the  mother  was  thrilling.  It 
overpowered  Mr.  Monroe,  and  every  one  present.  His  reply  was  simple :  "  I 
have  but  performed  an  act  of  justice  to  high  ability  and  merit."  Mr.  Adams 
at  first  mistook  me  for  the  son  of  his  brother  lawyer,  Samuel  Swift,  and 
poured  out  his  commendation,  saying:  "I  have  written  to  Mr.  Wirt  my 
opinion  of  the  merits  of  that  Whig,  who  fell  a  martyr  to  the  fury  of  Gage." 
I  replied:  "It  was  my  grandfather,  and  you  gave  me  my  cadet's  warrant 
eighteen  years  ago,"  upon  which  he  was  pleased  to  subjoin  some  civil  com- 
mendation. The  conversation  naturally  attracted  the  attention  of  the 
whole  dinner  party ;  and  it  was  a  scene  of  deep  interest  to  hear  the  old 
man  scan  the  days  of  his  life  in  Congress,  when  he  nominated  Washington, 
etc.  This  closed  the  Boston  reception  —  one  of  sleepless  fatigue  to  me,  in 
hearing  and  arranging  with  delegations  and  committees. 

On  the  route  east  the  President  stopped  to  rest  at  Salem  until  the  loth, 
occupied  in  correspondence  with  the  departments  at  Washington.  The 
aged  Timothy  Pickering,  and  the  mathematician,  Nathaniel  Bowditch,  were 
among  those  who  addressed  Mr.  Monroe,  and  much  display  of  arches 
and  festoons,  with  throngs  of  fine  children,  on  whom  such  pageantry  makes 
a  long-lasting  impression.  Here  the  reply  in  writing  was  made  to  the 
Democratic  committee  of  Boston,  in  substance  saying  that  it  was  the 
President's  design  by  this  tour  to  avoid  all  party  distinctions.  With  similar 
displays  of  good  feeling  at  Newburyport  and  Portsmouth,  Mr.  Monroe  was 


l62  THE  MEMOIRS    OF 

met  by  the  authorities  at  the  latter  place  by  Jeremiah  Mason,  in  a  powerful 
address  of  national  sentiment,  and  on  the  following  Monday  (14th,)  In 
barges  to  visit  the  navy  yard  and  forts  at  the  entrance  of  the  harbor,  accom- 
panied by  the  patriot  John  Langdon,  who  had  built  the  "America,"  seventy- 
four,  that  was  a  gift  to  France.  The  next  day  the  octogenarian,  Sewell, 
of  York,  in  Maine,  received  Mr.  Monroe  in  a  fine  address  of  reminiscences 
of  their  mutual  services  and  anxieties  of  the  war  of  '76  ;  and  so  on  to  the 
bridge  of  Strandwater,  Portland,  across  which  was  extended  twenty  arches, 
as  insignia  of  our  States,  the  centre  for  Louisiana  crowned  by  a  living  eagle, 
and  lined  on  either  wayside  by  some  one  thousand  five  hundred  school  chil- 
dren with  wreaths  and  scrolls — "Welcome  to  the  chief  of  our  choice  " — about 
the  most  impressive  display  seen  by  the  President.  Here,  after  a  sail  in  the 
harbor  and  a  visit  to  the  fortifications,  the  President  concluded  his  eastern 
tour,  and  determined  to  cross  the  country  through  Vermont,  of  which  I  had 
only  notified  Colonel  Totten  at  Rouse's  Point  to  meet  Mr.  Monroe  at  Bur- 
lington. Before  separating  from  Mr.  Munroe  he  expressed  his  gratification 
with  my  services,  and  certainly  no  man  can  be  easier  to  associate  with  in  a 
similar  capacity  than  Colonel  Monroe.  Here  it  was  determined  by  the 
President  that  Commodores  Bainbridge,  O.  H.  Perry  and  Evans,  with 
Colonel  McRee  of  the  engineers,  and  myself,  should  proceed  to  Penobscot 
Bay  with  the  "  Lynx,"  Lieutenant  .Stone,  and  "  Enterprise,"  Lieutenant 
Kearney,  and  "Prometheus,"  Wadsworth,  which  was  commenced  on  17th 
June  for  the  purpose  of  examining  for  a  site  to  locate  a  navy  depot.  We 
paid  our  respects  and  took  leave  of  the  Chief  Magistrate. 

During  various  evening  conversations  with  Mr.  Monroe  I  received  from 
him,  and  noted  down  at  the  time,  the  subjoined  facts  of  his  origin  and  life  : 

His  progenitors  were  from  Scotland.  His  immediate  ancestor  was  Captain 
Andrew  Monroe,  an  officer  in  the  army  of  Charles  L,  at  whose  overthrow  he 
fled  to  America,  anno  1650,  and  purchased  a  tract  of  land  in  Westmoreland, 
Virginia,  of  Lord  Barclay,  situate  on  Monroe  Creek.  The  Colonel  is  the  fifth 
in  direct  descent  from  Captain  Andrew  aforesaid.  The  Colonel  was  born 
1759,  and  educat(;d  at  William  and  i\Lary  College.  In  1776  he  joined 
Colonel  Weeden's  regiment  in  the  Virginia  line,  as  a  lieutenant.     At  the 


GENERAL  JOSEPH   GARDNER  SWIFT.  163 

battle  of  Trenton  he  seconded  Captain  William  Washington  in  carrying  the 
artillery  of  the  enemy  at  the  head  of  the  street  leading  to  the  bridge,  in 
which  conflict  both  were  wounded  in  the  shoulder.      On  recovering  from  his 
wound  in  Trenton  he  entered  the  family  of  Lord  Stirling  as  aid-de-camp, 
and  in  that  capacity,  and  that  of  major,  served  in  the  battles  of  Brandywine, 
Germantown  and  Monmouth.      General  Washington   advised  him  to  apply 
to  the  legislature  of  Virginia  for  authority  to  raise  a  regiment,  but  failing 
in  his  effort  to  do  this,  he  resigned  his  colonelcy  in   1780,  and  became  a 
student  at  law  in  the  office  of  Thomas  Jefferson.     In  the  following  year  sold 
his  paternal  seven  hundred  acres  in  Westmoreland,  and  with  the  proceeds 
purchased  his,  estate  in  Albemarle  called  "  Atamusquee,"  or  The  Lilly,  and 
in  company  with  his  uncle  Jones  bought  the  London  farm  at  Oak  Hill,  to 
which,  on  the  death  of  that  uncle   he  became   heir,  and  commenced  the 
practice  of  law  in  Fredericksburg.      He  was  then  elected  to  the  Virginia 
legislature,  and  became  a  member  of  the  council.     In  1783  he  was  elected 
to  Congress  at  Annapolis,  and  was  at  the  session  in  New  York  when  he  and 
Rufus  King  were  married.     Mr.  King  married  Miss  Alsop  and  he  married 
Miss  Kortright.     Soon  after  he  made  the  tour  of  Lake  Champlain,  River 
St.  Lawrence  and  Lake  Ontario,  Big  Sodus  Bay  and  Niagara,  purposing  to 
go  to  Detroit,  but  his  guide  being  killed  by  the  Indians,  he,  from  advice  of 
Colonel  De  Peyster,  abandoned  the  journey  and  returned  south  to  Virginia, 
until  the  adoption  of  the  Federal  Constitution,  which  he  opposed. 

Soon  after  the  establishment  of  the  government.  General  Washington 
nominated  him  to  the  embassy  to  France,  from  whence  he  was  recalled,  as 
it  was  alleged  he  exhibited  too  strong  favor  to  French  politics.  Mr.  Monroe 
stated  that  the  slander  commenced  thus:  Some  letters  of  General  Wash- 
ington had  been  wrecked  on  the  coast  of  France  ;  these  letters  indicated 
Washington's  dislike  of  the  French  revolution,  and  Mr.  Monroe  was  accused 
to  Washington  as.  having  referred  unfavorably  to  those  letters.  In  the 
pending  time  Mr.  Monroe  was  searching  for  the  letters,  and  succeeded  In 
learning  their  fate.  This  fact  he  immediately  wrote  to  General  Washington, 
but  before  his  letter  reached  the  General,  an  impression  had  been  made  on 
Washington's  mind  that  Monroe  had  misused  his  letters,  and  his  recall  was 


1 64  THE  MEMOIRS   OF 

forwarded  before  his  letter  to  Washington  was  received.  Indignant  at  the 
injustice,  he  did  not  call  on  Washington  on  his  return  home.  When 
Washington  had  read  Monroe's  letters  he  said  he  was  convinced  Mr.  Monroe 
had  done  his  duty.  But  Mr.  Monroe's  dislike  of  Mr.  Jay's  treaty  with  Spain 
about  the  navigation  of  the  Mississippi  seemed  to  sustain  a  coolness  on  the 
part  of  Washington.  Mr.  Monroe  said  his  treaty  with  Mr.  Fox  for  recip- 
rocal commerce  was  interfered  with,  by  Mr.  Jefferson's  sending  William 
Pinckney  of  Maryland,  which  suspended  the  treaty ;  and  that  the  treaty  then 
made,  was  revoked  by  the  omission  of  Jefferson  to  send  the  treaty  to  the 
Senate.  This  implication  of  Mr.  Monroe  was  a  sort  of  second  presidential 
frown,  and  it  caused  Mr.  Monroe  to  again  set  forth  a  defense  of  his 
embassy.  His  fellow  citizens  set  their  opinion  upon  his  treatment  by  electing 
him  governor  of  Virginia,  which  prevented  Mr.  Monroe  from  competing  the 
presidency  with  Mr.  Madison.  "So  far  from  that,"  said  Mr.  Monroe,  "I 
publicly  declined  the  competition,  and  also  the  Department  of  State."  But 
these  events  in  no  way  disturbed  his  friendly  intimacy  with  Jefferson.  Mr. 
Monroe  said  that  during  the  presidency  of  Congress  of  N.  Gorham,  that 
gentleman  wrote  Prince  Henry,  of  Prussia,  his  fears  that  America  could 
not  sustain  her  independence,  and  asked  the  prince  if  he  could  be  induced 
to  accept  regal  power  on  the  failure  of  our  free  institutions.  The  prince 
replied  that  he  regretted  deeply  the  probability  of  the  failure,  and  that  he 
would  do  no  act  to  promote  such  failure,  and  was  too  old  to  commence  new 
labors  in  life.  The  residue  of  Colonel  Monroe's  life  is  in  the  history  of  his 
country.  In  stature  Mr.  Monroe  is  above  the  ordinary  height,  well  formed, 
though  his  shoulders  are  somewhat  high,  fleshy,  but  in  no  wise  corpulent, 
his  complexion  without  muddiness,  his  demeanor  grave,  his  eye  blue, 
rather  dull  unless  excited,  his  features  strong,  high  cheek  bone  of  Scotland, 
nose  straight,  li])  rather  thick,  his  gait  quick  and  erect,  deportment  gentle 
and  affable,  his  temper  high  but  good,  his  judgment  sound  though  slow 
and  not  quick  of  perception.  Such  are  my  observations  of  Colonel  Monroe 
in  an  intimacy  uninterrupted  for  ten  years. 

The  little  squadron  before  mentioned,  arrived  in  Penobscot  Bay  on  i8th 
July,  at  dark,  and  made  a  harbor  at  Owl's   Head,  and  the  next  morning 


GENERAL  JOSEPH  GARDNER  SWIFT.  1 65 

commenced  an  examination  of  the  shore,  inlets  and  landings  made,  having 
our  rallying  point  at  Castine.  Here  I  was  entertained  by  Job  Nelson  and 
Mason  Shaw,  Esquires,  who  had  known  me  a  boy  on  Taunton  Green  ;  and 
they  were  intimate  friends  of  my  father.  They  received  me  with  a  warm 
welcome,  and  recurred  to  scenes  of  1796,  etc. 

At  the  military  post  here,  I  found  Captain  Luther  Leonard,  of  the  artillery, 
in  command.  He  had  been  a  distinguished  officer  in  the  war  of  181 2  in 
the  battle  of  Plattsburgh.  Also  met  my  protege.  Lieutenant  Bonneville, 
on  duty  at  the  fort,  to  whom  the  celebrated  Thomas  Paine  had  bequeathed 
some  estate.  From  the  fort  we  received  barges  to  explore  the  river  and 
narrows  to  Bucksport.  It  was  soon  ascertained  that  the  several  anchorages 
were  very  deep,  and  from  the  openness  of  the  bay  would  require  extensive 
fortifications  to  protect  them,  and  a  depot,  and  that  the  bay  was,  as  yet,  too 
remote  from  artisans  and  material  for  a  depot,  etc. 

Our  party  returned  to  Portland  on  a  similar  survey,  and  then  proceeded 
to  Portsmouth.  Of  the  Lieutenant  Bonneville  above  mentioned,  I  had,  in 
18 1 4,  procured  for  him  a  cadet's  warrant,  and  sent  him  to  the  Military 
Academy  at  West  Point.  The  commission  found  the  Piscataqua  a  very 
rapid  tidal  river,  with  many  easily  defensible  localities,  and  water  for  any 
machinery  easily  drawn  from  Lake  Winnepiseogee,  but  concluded  the  post 
not  to  be  suitable  for  a  depot,  and  the  same  result,  from  different  causes,  of 
Salem  and  Marblehead.  In  the  survey  of  these  two  last,  we  had  the 
company  and  counsel  of  Nathaniel  Bowditch,  Esq.,  who  had  made  minute 
surveys  of  both  harbors,  and  had  often  sailed  into  and  out  of  them  when  he 
was  a  ship-master.  We  found  him  continuing  his  scientific  translation  of 
the  great  work  of  La  Place,  which  few  ever  read  and  fewer  comprehend. 
A  gentleman  of  the  most  simple  habits  and  most  unaffected  deportment, 
and  very  cheerful  as  a  companion  is  Mr.  Bowditch. 

Our  squadron  proceeded  to  inspect  Boston  Harbor,  and  concluded  that 
the  present  navy  yard  would  be  a  valuable  adjunct  for  repairs,  but  not  for 
a  principal  depot.  We  observed  that  the  seaward  side  of  all  the  islands  in 
this  harbor  had  been  long  sustaining  an  abrasion  from  the  action  of  storms 
and  water.     The  time  when  these  islands  had  a  complete  form  correspond- 


1 66  THE  MEMOIRS   OF 

ing  to  the  slopes  of  the  existing  land  and  pastures,  must  have  been  very 
remote. 

Governor  Brooks  and  the  Bostonians  were  very  hospitably  attentive  to 
this  commission.  Among  the  amusements  of  the  day,  and  which  the 
President  had  also  enjoyed,  was  the  reading  of  Voltaire,  and  revelations 
by  an  admirable  artist  —  M.  Artiguenave. 

The  commission  proceeded  to  Rhode  Island,  where  I  was  to  join  them 
over  a  route  of  my  own  by  Taunton  Green,  where,  accompanied  by  my  aunt 
Lucretia,  we  were  received  with  great  civility.  An  invitation  to  a  public 
dinner,  which,  however  flattering,  I  declined,  in  consequence  of  the  illness 
of  my  early  instructress,  Miss  Sally  Cady. 

My  friend  Marcus  Morton,  who  had  married  my  schoolmate,  Miss 
Charlotte  Hodges,  conveyed  me  in  his  carriage  to  the  commission,  then 
assembling  at  Fall  River  on  8th  August,  and  a  survey  was  made  of  the 
Watuppa  Ponds  and  their  outlet,  and  fall,  into  Taunton  River ;  ait  ample 
source  to  drive  any  desirable  extent  of  depot  machinery.  Thence  we  made 
an  exploration  of  Mount  Hope  Bay.  At  Newport  the  commission  divided, 
one  part  to  complete  the  survey  of  Gardner's  Bay,  while  Colonel  McRee 
and  myself  explored  the  waters  east  from  Sakonnet  to  Buzzard's  Bay. 
Arriving  at  the  river  Pasquemonsett,  McRee  was  astonished  to  see  a  miller 
run  into  the  assemblage  at  the  bridge,  and  in  his  mealy  clothes  clasp  me  in 
his  arms,  covering  my  military  dress  with  meal,  and  excusing  his  joy  to  see 
me,  whose  life  he  had  saved  from  drowning  under  the  bridge  on  which  we 
stood ;  I  having  fallen  in  and  cut  my  head  on  a  rock  at  the  bottom,  the  scar 
of  which  remained  for  the  twenty-six  years  that  had  intervened.  There 
were  present  also  the  Tuckers  and  Macombs,  friends  of  my  father  at  that 
period.  Hence  McRee  and  I  proceeded  to  Clark's  Cove  and  the  Acushnet 
River,  and  Elizabeth  Islands,  and  rejoined  the  board  at  New  London, 
exploring  the  Thames.  These  surveys  had  reference  to  the  law  of  Con- 
gress on  the  subject  of  depots,  and  we  agreed  to  meet  at  my  quarters  in 
Brooklyn  to  complete  a  report  to  the  Navy  Department.  On  26th  August  I 
found  my  family  in  health  at  Brooklyn.     Thanks  to  God. 


GENERAL  JOSEPH  GARDNER  SWIFT.  167 


On  31st  August,  18 1 7,  Colonel  McRee  reported  to  me  that  Captain 
Partridge  had  returned  to  West  Point,  and  in  defiance  of  my  orders,  had 
assumed  the  command  over  Major  Thayer,  the  alleged  purpose  being  to 
recover  the  quarters  he  had  occupied,  and  which  Major  Thayer  declined  to 
assign  to  him.  The  next  day  I  sent  my  aid.  Lieutenant  Blaney,  to  West  Point 
with  an  order  to  Captain  Partridge  to  deliver  the  command  of  that  post  to 
Major  Thayer  without  delay,  and  to  consider  himself  in  arrest  for  disobe- 
dience. A  few  days  previously  to  this,  on  2Sth  August,  Captain  Partridge 
had  called  and  breakfasted  with  me  in  Brooklyn,  and  requested  my 
authority  to  extend  his  leave  so  as  to  allow  him  to  visit  West  Point  for 
study.  I  declined  any  such  consent,  and  said  to  him  that  such  a  movement 
would  not  only  contravene  the  order  of  the  President  of  the  United  States 
to  me,  but  would  also  injure  and  defeat  at  once  any  purpose  he  might  con- 
template of  restoration  hereafter.  The  conversation  dropped  there,  and  I 
had  not  a  thought  that  Captain  Partridge  would  act  in  opposition  to  such 
purpose  on  my  part. 

On  2d  September,  Colonel  McRee,  Professor  Mansfield  and  myself  went 
to  West  Point,  where,  on  meeting  Partridge,  I  said  to  him  that  he  had  placed 
himself  beyond  the  pale  of  my  long-tried  friendship  to  him.  At  his  request 
I  extended  his  arrest  to  New  York,  to  allow  him  every  facility  to  prepare 
for  trial.  I  reported  the  case  to  the  Secretary  of  War  and  returned  to 
Brooklyn,  to  meet  at  my  office  navy  officers  on  the  subject  of  depots. 
From  20th  September  to  6th  October  I  was  confined  to  my  bedroom  with 
fever.  While  thus  confined  General  Benjamin  Smith  of  Wilmington,  North 
Carolina,  called  on  me,  and  awaited  my  convalescence.  My  brother-in-law, 
Juliu^  H.  Walker,  being  my  amanuensis,  I  dictated  a  letter  of  introduction 
of  General  Smith  to  the  Secretary  of  the  Navy,  and  recommended  the 
purchase  of  Bald  Head,  North  Carolina,  because  of  the  extensive  growth 
there  of  live  oak  and  cedar,  and  thus  to  enable  General  Smith  to  liquidate 


1 68  THE  MEMOIRS    OF 

the  old  bond  of  Colonel  Read,  late  collector,  for  whom  General  Smith  had 
become  security. 

October  13th  Mrs.  Swift,  with  her  mother  and  brother  Julius,  and  my  son 
Julius  and  daughter  Sarah  left  me,  and  by  packet  sailed  for  Wilmington  ; 
Mrs.  John  London  and  children  occupying  my  house  in  Washington  Street, 
and  in  lieu  of  rent  boarded  my  sons  Williams  and  Alexander,  and  my 
servant  and  slave  Nancy  until  the  ensuing  spring.  My  worthy  aunt 
Lovering  having  returned  to  Boston,  and  my  son  Thomas  remaining  with 
his  grandfather,  the  United  States  surgeon  on  Governor's  Island. 

October  20th,  the  general  court  martial  of  thirteen  members.  General  W. 
Scott,  president,  assembled  at  West  Point  for  the  trial  of  Captain  Partridge. 
I  went  thither  on  24th,  with  my  aid,  Lieutenant  Blaney,  and  my  son  James. 
Hither  Commodores  Evans  and  Perry  joined  me  to  consult  upon  and  report 
in  reference  to  depots  and  defences  that  we  had  explored  from  New  York 
to  Casco  Bay  inclusive,  and  we  returned  together  to  New  York,  and  there 
met  Commodore  Bainbridge  and  Colonel  W.  McRee,  and  from  thence 
on  30th  sent  our  report  to  the  Secretary  of  both  the  Navy  and  War 
Departments. 

November  ist  I  returned  to  West  Point,  and  on  iith  the  court  martial 
terminated  its  proceedings.  The  court  sentenced  Captain  Partridge  to  be 
dismissed  from  the  army.  On  14th  November  I  returned  to  my  office  in 
Brooklyn,  and  commenced  to  remove  the  headquarters  of  the  corps  to  the 
City  of  Washington.  On  17th,  my  aid,  Lieutenant  Blaney,  proceeded  to 
that  place  with  the  books,  plans,  papers  and  instruments.  I  followed  him 
on  20th,  leaving  my  son  James  with  Rev.  Mr.  Rudd  at  Elizabethtown 
school.  I  arrived  at  Washington  on  25th  November,  and  established  the 
office  in  Pennsylvania  Avenue  and  Eighteenth  Street,  east  side.  I  called 
on  the  President  in  reference  to  the  subject  of  Captain  Partridge,  and 
advised  a  remission  of  the  sentence  of  the  court,  provided  Captain  Partridge 
would  resign.  The  remission  was  noted  in  the  gazettes.  This  case  of 
Partridge  is  an  incident  in  the  history  of  the  Academy  at  West  Point,  in  which 
my  official  conduct  was  deemed  to  be  a  species  of  favoritism  toward  the 
captain.     From  the  day  I  took  comniand  of  the  corps  in  1812,  to  the  spring 


GENERAL  JOSEPH  GARDNER  SWIET.  169 

of  18 13  I  had  had  no  opportunity  to  meet  Captain  Partridge.  1  then  found 
him  at  the  Academy,  where  he  had  been  placed  by  Colonel  Williams  ;  an 
appointment  that  every  officer  in  the  corps  would  be  disposed  to  respect, 
from  respect  to  their  chief.  I  made  no  hesitation  to  sustain  him,  and 
returned  to  my  especial  command  of  Staten  Island  by  order  of  the  President, 
at  that  time  garrisoned  by  the  3  2d  and  41st  Regiments  of  infantry,  when 
the  harbor  was  blockaded  by  the  enemy.  In  the  month  of  August  the 
Secretary  of  War  sent  me  to  the  frontier  as  chief  engineer  to  the  army  of 
General  Wilkinson,  and  from  thence  to  Washington.  The  following 
year,  18 14,  I  was  engaged  in  the  defences  of  Long  and  York  Islands. 
The  year  18 15  much  engaged  on  the  board  for  depots.  So  that  until  18 16 
it  was  not  in  my  power  to  be  much  at  West  Point ;  and  it  was  early  in  this 
year,  as  elsewhere  noted,  that  the  first  intimation  was  made  to  me  by  the 
President  that  it  would  be  satisfactory  to  have  Captain  Partridge  super- 
ceded. I  had  no  idea  of  doing  that;  and  if  I  had  purposed  any  such 
measure,  there  was  not  an  officer  in  the  corps  of  engineers  competent  to 
be  superintendent  who  did  not  dislike  that  service,  and  none  more  than  the 
gentleman  who  so  ably  succeeded  Captain  Partridge. 

As  soon  as  I  knew  that  the  captain  had  become  unacceptable  to  the 
executive,  it  was  my  duty  to  seek  the  first  opportunity  to  place  him  upon 
other  duty;  and  this  was  done,  as  my  journal  with  the  President  evinces. 
Ultimately  I  was  forced  to  a  conviction  that  I  had  misplaced  my  confidence 
in  reference  to  Partridge,  and  finally  his  insane  act  of  disobedience  made  it 
my  duty  to  arrest  him.  The  sentence  of  the  court  caused  the  captain  to 
forget  the  long-tried  confidence  that  I  had  reposed  in  him;  he  turned  his 
pen  against  me  and  others,  and  one  of  his  first  acts  was  to  accuse  me  of 
waste  and  peculation  in  the  erection  of  the  public  buildings  at  West  Point. 
These  accusations  the  President  and  the  Secretary  of  War  deemed  to  be 
malicious  and  false,  and  all  proceedings  in  reference  thereto  was  denied. 
The  vouchers,  however,  of  the  disbursements  at  West  Point  are  among  my 
files,  and  they  were  deemed  by  the  accounting  officers  of  the  government 
to  be  just.  I  have  received  them  from  those  officers,  and  have  placed 
them  on  my  files  in  case  any  one  might  be  disposed  to  examine  them  —  and 


170  THE  MEMOIRS    OF 

this  unusual  displacement  of  vouchers  was  made  by  the  permission  of  the 
President.  The  circumstance  that  induced  the  Secretary  of  War  to  desire 
a  superceding  of  Captain  Partridge,  was  not  his  want  of  ability,  for  he  was 
a  good  teacher  of  mathematics,  and  a  good  infantry  and  artillery  drill  officer; 
it  was  because  his  aspect  was  uncouth,  a  want  of  what  is  called  genteel 
carriage,  and  awkwardness  of  manner  that  gave  a  repulsive  first  impression. 
But  Captain  Partridge  had  good  qualities  as  well  as  good  sense.  He  was 
said  to  be  a  graduate  of  Dartmouth  College,  and  was  there  deemed  a  good 
scholar ;  and  it  cannot  be  denied  that  many  of  the  youthful  officers  of  the 
army  in  the  war  of  18 12  owed  much  of  their  success  in  the  field,  to  the 
patient  training  which  they  received  from  "Old  Pewter"  —  Captain 
Partridge's  soubriquet  among  the  cadets. 

December  6th,  the  President  and  the  Secretary  of  War  commended  to 
Congress,  then  in  session,  the  raising  a  corps  of  sappers  and  miners  for  the 
corps  of  engineers.  On  the  same  day  was  discussed  and  settled  to  estab- 
lish a  bureau  of  every  department  of  the  army  at  Washington. 

December  7th,  Colonel  W.  McRee  joined  me  at  Washington  to  consult  on 
the  duties  of  the  board.  We  agreed  in  opinion  that  it  was  too  late  to 
explore  northern  positions. 

On  19th  we  two  proceeded  to  Baltimore  to  explore  the  harbor,  and  we 
selected  Soller's  Point  for  the  site  of  the  main  work.  Our  board  was  here 
joined  by  Lieutenant-Colonel  Armistead,  Majors  Roberdeau  and  Kearney, 
and  my  aid.  Lieutenant  Blaney.  On  26th  December  we  proceeded  to 
reconnoitre  Annapolis  Harbor,  and  on  29th  we  went  to  Norfolk,  to  meet 
Captains  Warrington  and  Elliot,  of  the  navy,  in  reference  to  exploring  the 
James  and  other  rivers  of  the  bay,  for  a  depot  for  the  navy,  and  on  30th 
commenced  the  survey  of  Old  Point  Comfort,  and  the  bay  towards 
Lynhaven. 

1818.  January  12th,  the  board  of  engineers,  at  the  instance  of  the 
Secretary  of  War,  postponed  the  examination  of  the  Chesapeake  waters 
until  I  St  May,  for  the  purpose  of  then  having  llic  assistance  of  General 
Bernard,  then  employed  on  liie  Mexico  Gulf  reconnoitre.  The  board 
having  thus  far  agreed  to  commend  the  occupancy  of  OV\  Point,  ami  the 


GENERAL  JOSEPH   GARDNER  SWIFT.  1 7 1 

Rip  Rap  shoal  opposite  thereto.  On  26th  January  the  board  met  at 
Norfolk,  and  I  reported  this  result  to  the  War,  and  Captain  Warrington  did 
the  same  to  the  Navy  Department. 

Being  thus  released  from  pressing  duty,  I  sent  my  aid  to  the  office  at 
Washington,  and,  by  leave  of  the  Secretary  of  War,  made  an  excursion  to 
North  Carolina,  with  a  view  to  meeting  commissioners  at  Edenton,  and  to 
inspect  the  harbor  of  Cape  Fear,  and  at  the  same  time  renew  a  long- 
suspended  intercourse  with  friends  at  Wilmington.  On  30th  January  I 
commenced  my  journey  with  a  pair  of  horses,  and  at  Edenton,  North  Car- 
olina, met  Messrs.  Little  and  Treadwell,  the  State  commissioners,  on  the 
subject  of  improving  the  navigation  of  the  sound.  Compared  the  maps 
of  Morley's  date,  1733,  with  that  of  Wimble's  of  173S,  with  the  recent 
surveys  of  Cole,  etc.,  and  appointed  to  examine  the  Old  Roanoke  Inlet  in 
the  coming  spring,  with  a  view  to  opening  a  channel  from  the  Sound  to  the 
Atlantic.  At  a  dinner  given  on  this  occasion  I  met  my  neighbor.  Captain 
Henry  Waring,  of  Brooklyn,  whom  I  found  to  be  a  popular  intimate  of  the 
gentility  of  Edenton,  and  who  entertained  the  company  with  a  history  of 
his  entering  the  United  States  navy  in  '98  as  a  lieutenant,  and  compeer  of 
the  now  Commodore  Chauncy,  whom  he  then  "outranked;"  but  finding 
that  his  "trade  with  North  Carolina"  was  more  profitable  than  his  navy 
commission,  he  resigned  its  honors  to  his  friend  Chauncy,  and  contented 
himself  with  accumulating  money  as  a  merchant. 

On  5th  February  crossed  the  Albemarle  Sound  to  Plymouth,  where  the 
citizens  received  me  under  a  salute  of  cannon,  and  which  I  acknowledged 
in  a  brief  speech ;  and  at  Mr.  Armistead's  met  the  great  farmer  of  that  part 
■of  the  State,  Mr.  Collins,  who  gave  me  a  minute  account  of  the  culture  of 
the  "  Scuppernong  grape,"  so  famous  for  its  wine.  This  grape  is  described 
by  Lawson,  in  his  history  of  Carolina,  early  in  the  last  century. 

On  7th  I  proceeded  to  Newbern,  where  I  met  William  Gaston,  Esquire, 
whose  very  agreeable  acquaintance  I  had  made  in  the  family  of  my  father- 
in-law  in  Wilmington,  1806,  when  Gaston  practiced  in  the  courts  there.  At 
dinner  I  also  met  my  friend  John  Guion,  Esquire,  and  William  Graham,  and 
Mr.  Donnel,  and  passed  a  few  hours  with  John  Stanly,  Esq.,  one  of  the 


172  THE  MEMOIRS    OP 

brightest  minds  of  the  State.  On  9th  February  arrived  at  Wilmington, 
finding  Mrs.  Swift  and  my  son  and  daughter  in  health.  Thanks  be 
to  God. 

On  2 1st  Februar)-  the  citizens  of  Wilmington  gave  me  a  dinner  —  a 
flattering  token  of  the  remembrance  of  earlier  days.  I  attempted  no 
speech  in  response  to  a  complimentarj'  remark,  and  gave  this  toast:  — 

"  North  Carolina  and  her  liberal  spirit,  as  evinced  in  her  carte  blanche 
order  to  Canova  for  a  sculpture  of  Washington,  at  an  expense  limited  only 
by  the  artist's  decision." 

February  26th,  to  Fort  Johnson,  Oak  Island  and  Bald  Head,  and  reported 
from  Smithville  my  views  to  the  War  Department.  Visited  the  grave  of 
my  friend  John  Lightfoot  Griffin,  in  the  garden  that  had  been  the  care  of 
its  owner  in  1805,  Mrs.  Sarah  Drj'  Smith.  I  could  find  no  stone  in  the 
public  gravejard  to  mark  the  resting  place  of  my  early  friend  Benjamin 
Blaney,  the  friend  also  of  the  poor,  and  that  especially  of  the  sick  sailor 
and  stranger. 

February  28th  to  Orton,  the  plantation  of  General  Smith  on  the  banks 
of  the  Cape  Fear,  and  passed  a  day  with  Mrs.  S.  D.  Smith  and  himself. 
The  pleasures  of  our  reminiscences  of  that  spot,  and  of  Belvldere,  were 
clouded  by  the  aspect  of  the  failing  fortunes  of  the  general.  Mrs.  Smith 
presented  us  at  the  board,  a  bottle  of  the  nearly  consumed  stock  of  old 
sherry,  with  which,  and  blue  perch  from  the  adjacent  pond,  we  were  used 
to  regale  in  more  prosperous  days;  Mrs.  Smith  evincing  a  well-balanced 
serenity,  to  cheer  the  gloom  of  her  husband.  On  ist  of  March  returned  to 
Wilmington,  and  found  it  a  fruitless  essay  to  liquidate  the  large  claims  of 
the  general's  creditors. 

Mrs.  Swift  and  myself  renewed  our  associations  with  the  Lords,  Mrs. 
Vance,  Mr.  Miller  and  the  Browns,  Wrights,  Toomers,  Londons,  Hoopers, 
and  other  of  the  friends  of  our  more  early  days.  On  7th  visited  my  corres- 
pondent, Alfred  Moore,  Esq.,  at  Buchoi,  and  enjoyed  a  retrospect  of  our 
deer  hunts  with  Duncan  Moore,  now  laid  low,  and  the  Swanns,  Hills  and 
Burgwins,  Richard  Eagle,  efc. 

The  recurrence  among  friends  to  the  scenes  of  early  life,  when  visiting. 


GENERAL  JOSEPH  GARDNER  SWIFT.  1 73 

form  some  of  the  finest  enjoyments  of  mind  that  can  be  recounted,  and 
probably  one  among  the  best  of  this  world's  good. 

On  nth  March,  I  purchased  carriage  and  horses,  and,  with  my  wife,  son 
and  daughter,  and  maid  Peggy,  commenced  a  jaunt  to  Norfolk,  leaving  of 
our  family  in  Wilmington,  Mr.  J.  W.  Walker  and  Julius,  and  their  mother, 
Mrs.  Walker — an  exemplary  parent,  and  true  lady  of  the  old  school — and 
her  sister,  Mrs.  Ann  Quince,  of  equal  virtues,  and  our  semper  cadem 
friend  and  cousin,  and  family  physician.  Dr.  A.  J.  De  Rosset.  Mrs.  Vance 
and  daughters  Marj'  and  Jane  took  the  road  to  Newbern  by  the  Sound 
to  Sage's,  and  to  Colonel  Shine's  by  Holly  Shelter  and  Trenton.  Detained 
some  days  by  storm  in  Newbern,  entertained  by  friends  there  already 
named,  and  by  the  Edwards ;  employed  the  rainy  hours  In  reading  to  Mrs. 
Swift,  whose  piety  enjoyed  the  "  Rise  and  Progress  of  Religion  in  the 
Soul  of  Man,"  by  Doddridge,  more  than  her  less  pious  husband,  who, 
however,  found  it  among  the  best  books  he  ever  perused  —  thanks  be  to 
God.  We  arrived  at  the  hospitable  mansion  of  John  Armistead,  Esquire, 
In  Plymouth,  on  2 2d,  thence  sent  my  horses  and  carriage  back  to  Wilming- 
ton to  be  sold,  and  crossed  the  Sound  to  Edenton  in  company  with  a  very 
enlightened  gentleman.  Dr.  Norcomb,  whose  knowledge  of  the  Roanoke 
country,  and  its  liberal  planters,  gave  Mrs.  Swift  and  myself  cause  to  be 
thankful  for  his  conversation  in  a  long:  row  in  a  barg-e  that  landed  us 
at  Edenton,  from  whence  we  took  an  extra  Stage  to  Norfolk,  arriving  there 
on  25th,  and  by  packet  thence  to  Baltimore.  On  30th  at  my  sister's,  Mrs. 
Adams,  and  on  the  ist  April  I  to  my  office  in  Washington  City,  accompanied 
by  my  father.  Found  good  quarters  by  renting  a  house  in  Colonel  Cox's  row. 
In  Georgetown,  where  on  26th  my  aid.  Lieutenant  Blaney,  arrived  with  my 
son  James,  wounded  in  the  head  by  a  blow  received  from  his  inconsiderate 
teacher,  Dr.  Rudd,  in  Ellzabethtown  ;  also  my  sons  William,  Alexander 
and  Thomas,  and  with  Mrs.  Swift,  Julius  and  Sally,  and  maid  Peggy,  and  my 
faithful  man  Jack,  whose  bravery  and  care  In  the  St.  Lawrence  campaign  of 
18 13  deserves  my  remembrance,  and  whose  features  Jarvis  has  preserved  in 
the  portrait  that  the  corporation  placed  in  the  City  Hall  in  commemoration 
of  the  Long  Island  and  Harlem  scenes  of  1814.     My  man  Jack  brought 


I  74  THE  MEMOIRS  OF 

with  him  my  well-kept  horses  "Fox,"  "Ned,"  and  "Yorick."  On  28th  my 
friend.  Captain  John  L.  Smith,  welcomed  the  family  to  our  new  quarters 
in  Georgetown.  Early  in  May  my  brother-in-law  Adams  and  myself,  with 
some  of  my  brother  officers,  commenced  to  purchase  military'  land  warrants, 
with  a  view  on  my  part  to  form  some  future  settlement  for  my  sons  in 
Illinois,  on  some  fine  tracts,  and  to  re-sell  the  balance. 

On  26th  May,  with  the  engineer  of  that  department,  Lieutenant-Colonel 
Armistead,  proceeded  to  Fort  McHenry,  Baltimore,  and  laid  off  a  sea  wall 
to  protect  the  site  from  the  waves  of  the  bay  that  had  been  some  time 
abrading  the  shore ;  Armistead  commenced  the  work.  The  next  day 
General  Bernard,  and  Captain  Elliot  of  the  navy  and  myself  proceeded  to 
Old  Point  Comfort,  and  recommenced  our  examinations  that  had  been 
commenced  last  winter  at  Gosport.  Colonel  Armistead  joined  the  board, 
and  we  extended  our  explorations  to  York  River,  and  from  thence 
despatched  Lieutenant  Smoot  of  the  navy,  in  the  schooner,  to  meet 
President  Monroe  up  the  bay,  and  to  signal  the  meeting  by  five  discharges 
of  cannon.  The  President  and  Secretaries  of  War  and  Navy  having 
determined  to  see  the  several  positions  that  the  board  had  surveyed  with 
reference  to  a  navy  depot  and  the  defence  of  Chesapeake  Bay.  Ad  interim 
the  board  proceeded  to  explore  the  vicinity  of  Norfolk  and  Lynhaven  Bay, 
Elizabeth  River,  etc.  At  a  place  called  Cormick,  on  Trading  Point,  and 
also  the  settlement  of  Captain  John  Smith,  of  Pocahontas  memory,  we  found 
moss-covered  grave  stones,  one  inscribed  "Cookings,  1657,"  another 
"Hodges,  1687."  Detailed  Major  James  Kearney  and  Captain  William  T. 
Poussin  to  form  a  topographical  map  of  these  regions,  by  a  compass 
reconnoitre. 

On  30th  May  the  board  proceeded  by  a  navy  schooner  and  barges  to  the 
clay  banks  on  York  River ;  a  point  commended  to  examination  for  a  depot. 

On  2d  June  we  went  in  several  boats  up  Queen's  Creek  to  Williams- 
burgh,  and  thence  explored  Archer's  Hope  to  James  River.  We  visited 
William  and  Mary,  and  viewed  the  fine  marble  statue  of  Norbon,  Lord 
Botetout,  in  the  college  land.  Also  a  couple  of  large  live  oak  trees 
standing  in  the  corner  of  the  land,  the  most  northerly  growth  of  this  tree 


GENERAL  JOSEPH   GARDNER  SWIFT.  '  175 

that  I  have  seen.  Returned  to  Yorktown,  and  traversed  the  old  hnes  of 
October,  1781.  On  passing  the  redout  stormed  by  St.  Simon  and  Viomenil, 
General  Bernard,  with  quite  an  imposing  air,  took  off  his  hat  and  made  a 
profound  reverence.  While  at  the  redout  carried  by  Colonel  Hamilton,  we 
laughed  at  the  fact  that  it  was  conquered  by  the  loss  of  half  a  dozen  lives 
in  a  very  rapid  movement,  while  Viomenil,  more  formal  in  his  march,  but 
with  success,  mastered  his  redout,  leaving  some  sixty  men  dead  in  the 
trenches.  We  also  looked  at  the  old  stone  church  of  York,  and  found  the 
tomb  of  Thomas  Nelson,  son  of  Hugo,  of  Penrith,  inscribed  "Vitcs  bene 
gestae  finejn  implevity  The  stone  of  the  church  and  the  old  mill  of 
limestone  taken  from  the  banks  of  York  River. 

On  5th  June  the  approach  of  the  President  was  signaled  by  Lieutenant 
Smoot,  who,  with  the  Secretary  of  War,  Mr.  Calhoun,  and  of  the  Navy,  Mr. 
Crowninshield,  and  private  secretary,  Mr.  Samuel  L.  Gouverneur,  joined  the 
board  at  Yorktown,  and  visited  the  site  of  the  marquees  of  Washington  and 
Rochambeau  on  the  field  of  1781,  and  the  next  day  looked  over  the  posi- 
tions that  the  board  had  surveyed  near  York,  and  on  7th  sailed  to  Old  Point 
Comfort,  and  the  next  day  the  President  and  suite  made  a  ceremonial 
entrance  at  Norfolk,  as  the  commencement  of  the  President's  southern  tour 
of  inspection.  He  examined  the  navy  yard  and  forts,  and  on  9th,  with  the 
board  as  part  of  his  suite,  took  barges  to  Drummond's  Lake  via  the  Dismal 
Swamp  Canal  ;  in  which  excursion  Captain  Elliot  of  the  navy  amused 
himself  and  Gouverneur  by  upsetting  the  barge  of  the  board  in  the  outlet, 
sending  Bernard  and  McRee  to  the  bottom  for  a  moment.  The  freak  was, 
of  course,  taken  in  good  part,  and  we  hastened  to  Parages,  on  the  canal,  to 
dry  our  garments,  and  to  partake  of  the  fine  cane-fed  beef  of  the  swamp, 
and  to  mix  our  brandy  with  the  light  juniper-colored  water  of  the  outlet  — 
deemed  especially  wholesome. 

On  loth  the  President,  etc.,  visited  Elizabeth  City  on  the  Pasquotank, 
and  also  became  guests  of  Mr.  Sawyer  in  the  vicinity,  whose  accomplished 
daughter  entertained  the  party  with  music  on  the  harp.  On  12th  the 
President  and  suite  returned  to  a  public  dinner  given  at  Norfolk  in  honor 
of  Mr.  Monroe. 


176  THE  MEMOIRS   OF 

On  13th  to  Hampton  and  Old  Point,  examining  the  topographical  maps 
and  plans  of  the  board,  from  whence,  a  further  extension  of  the  tour  being 
postponed  for  a  season,  (Secretary'  Calhoun  having  gone  to  South  Carolina,) 
the  President,  on  receiving  despatches  from  Washington,  returned  at  once 
with  the  Secretary-  of  the  Navy  and  Mr.  Gouverneur  to  that  city. 

On  1 8th  the  board  proceeded  to  St.  Mary's  River  on  Potomac,  where 
McRee  and  myself  relieved  the  subalterns,  and  made  in  one  day  a  triangu- 
lation  of  that  estuary  called  a  river,  and  extended  the  same  to  the  banks  of 
the  Patuxent  at  Point  Sewell. 

On  2 1  St  the  board  examined  the  Patuxent,  where  Bernard  met,  for  the 
first  time  in  his  life,  the  American  black  snake,  a  bold  fellow  of  full  six  feet 
in  length,  that  raised  himself  over  a  bush,  and,  with  his  brilliant  eye,  shook 
his  forked  tongue  at  the  general. 

On  2 1  St  the  board  arrived  in  Annapolis,  and  proceeded  to  examine  that 
harbor  and  the  Round  Bay.  From  thence  sent  orders  (24th)  to  Major  J.  J. 
Abert  and  Captain  J.  Le  Conte,  to  make  a  topographical  survey  of  Throg's 
Neck  and  Hell  Gate,  with  a  view  to  the  action  of  the  board. 

On  27th  we  proceeded  to  Baltimore,  and  held  our  meetings  at  the  Indian 
Queen,  in  Market  Street.  The  whole  board  in  favor  of  York  River  as  a 
navy  depot  except  Captain  L.  Warrington,  who  preferred  the  present  site, 
Gosport,  in  case  that  the  Horse  Shoe  Channel  should  be  found 'by  the 
engineers  to  be  defensible ;  but  if  the  line  of  defence  had  to  fall  back  to 
Old  Point  Comfort,  then  the  whole  board  would  probably  select  a  site  for 
the  depot  on  Burrell's  Bay,  or  some  other  point  on  James  River.  The  board 
here  adjourned,  to  meet  in  Washington  on  30th  September  next. 

On  my  arrival  in  Baltimore  I  found  my  sister  Sarah  and  my  brother 
William  arrived  from  New  York.  I  had  written  Major  Thayer  to  send  my 
brother  to  me,  that  I  might  direct  him  as  to  his  future  pursuits.  His 
fondness  for  sport  had  made  him  popular  among  the  young  cadets  at  West 
Point,  and  of  course  such  a  standing  was  accompanied  by  a  low  grade  in 
the  merit  roll,  which  annoyed  his  father  and  myself,  and  gave  the  superin- 
tendent of  the  Academy  trouble.  It  had  become  habitual  at  the  Point  in  all 
doubtful  cases  of  mischief,  to  attribute  it  to  my  brother,  who,  among  other 


GENERAL  JOSEPH  GARDNER  SIVJFT.  177 

freaks  had  commenced  "  messing  by  himself,"  as  he  termed  his  retiring  to  a 
lone  room  with  a  box  of  pies  that  he  had  purchased  of  one  of  the  servants 
at  that  post. 

On  30th  June  I  took  WilHam  with  me  to  Georgetown,  where,  after  a  few  days 
I  advised  him  to  return  to  West  Point  and  apply  himself  to  a  better  course, 
and  by  study  to  get  ready  to  meet  me  there  on  my  next  visit  of  inspection ; 
which  he  promised  to  do,  and  then  returned  to  Governor's  Island  and  to  the 
Pomt.  He  has  no  lack  of  capacity,  and  will  succeed  if  he  apply  himself  to 
his  books. 

The  months  of  July  and  August  were  busy  days  in  the  office  on  Pennsyl- 
vania Avenue,  about  one  hundred  yards  west  of  the  war  office,  in  makino- 
contracts  for  the  new  works  on  the  Gulf  of  Mexico  and  Atlantic  frontiers. 
We  had  a  multitude  of  proposals  from  Messrs.  Farrar,  Goldsborouo-h  Mix 
and  others. 

During  the  time  I  made  official  arrangements  to  place  the  engineer 
department  in  the  hands  of  a  successor,  for  I  had  made  up  my  mind  to 
seek  civil  service.  I  also,  early  in  September,  made  a  visit  of  inspection  to 
West  Point,  and  consulted  my  friend  Thayer  in  reference  to  my  brother 
William,  who  I  found  would  not  so  pursue  his  studies  as  to  secure  him  the 
proper  grade  as  graduate,  and  determined  to  detach  him  on  some  duty  that 
would  promise  improvement,  and  secure,  if  practicable,  his  commission  in  the 
artillery;  for  which  object  I  had  been  also  consulting  the  Secretary  of  War, 
in  reference  to  examining  the  western  rivers,  recently  commenced  by  my 
protege,  Captain  S.  H.  Long,  who  had  made  a  verj^  interesting  map  of  the 
Illinois  and  its  tributaries. 

In  this  visit  to  West  Point  I  was  accompanied  by  General  John  Mason, 
the  proprietor  of  the  Georgetown  iron  works,  who  came  on  to  see  Mr. 
Gouv.  Kemble  and  our  rising  establishment  opposite  the  Point  at  Margaret 
Brook.  This  was  on  17th  of  the  month.  Frcm  thence  to  the  city,  where  I 
met  Mrs.  Swift's  cousin,  Mrs.  Mary  Orme,  who  returned  with  me  on  26th 
to  my  family  in  Georgetown  ;  finding  there  my  old  friend  General  B.  Smith, 
from  Belvidere,  on  his  way  to  Kentucky,  to  examine  his  lands  near  Hen- 
derson.    My  brother-in-law,  James  W.  Walker,  from  Wilmington,  had  been 


178  THE  MEMOIRS    OF 

sojourning  in  my  family  on  his  way  to  seek  a  new  residence  on  the  Lime- 
stone River  in  Alabama,  and  to  examine  some  lands  in  West  Tennessee  to 
which  his  father  had  claims  for  military  service. 

On  30th  September  the  board  of  engineer  and  navy  officers  met  at  the 
department  to  finish  the  plans  for  Chesapeake  Bay,  that  they  might  be 
redrawn  by  the  officers  engaged  in  the  surveys. 

The  President  returned  to  Washington  on  nth  October  from  his  resi- 
dence at  Oak  Hill,  in  Loudon,  Virginia.  On  15th  October  met  him  and 
the  Secretaries  of  War  and  Treasury  to  consult  upon  my  retiring  from  the 
army  to  civil  service.  I  presenteded  them  my  views  in  reference  to  General 
Bernard,  and  said  that  under  the  resolution  of  Congress,  i6th  February, 
I  did  not  see  how  the  executive  could  remedy  the  case.  It  was  concluded 
to  confer  upon  me  the  surveyorship  of  New  York,  the  onl)'  place  that 
would  be  vacant,  and  on  23d  October  Mr.  Crawford  informed  me  that  I 
might  take  charge  of  that  office  as  soon  as  I  had  made  up  my  mind  to  leave 
the  corps  of  engineers.  Mr.  Secretary  of  State  J.  O.  Adams  gave  his 
approval  to  this  measure  of   my  appointment. 

Our  friend  Mrs.  Orme  returned  home  to  Wilmington  under  the  escort  of 

Mr. .     I  wrote  by  her  to  Julius  H.  Walker,  advising  him  of  all  the 

facts  that  had  come  to  me  from  Lawyer  Shight  of  Newburg,  and  from  uncle 
John  Du  Bois  of  the  same  town,  to  wit :  That  all  the  children  of  John 
Du  Bois  (Mrs.  Swift's  grandfather,)  were  entitled  to  the  said  grandfather's 
rights  in  the  "  Minnesink  land,"  and  that  under  the  will  of  Mrs.  Swift's 
mother,  Julius  H.  and  Louisa  M.  Walker  (my  wife)  were  entitled  to  all  the 
said  lands  that  had  belonged  to  Isaac  Du  Bois,  the  brother  of  the  said 
grandfather  John  ;  which  land  had  descended  to  the  only  child  (Margaret) 
of  the  said  Isaac  and  wife  of  the  aforesaid  John  Du  Bois  of  Newburgh,  to 
whom  was  born  one  son,  Isaac,  who,  dying  before  his  father  and  after  his 
mother,  the  said  father,  John,  had  conveyed  by  his  will  all  the  rights  of  said 
Isaac,  his  father-in-law,  to  his  sister,  the  aforesaid  M.  M.  Walker,  mother  of 
said  Julius  H.  and  Louisa  M.  :  i.  e.,  all  said  Dr.  Lsaac  Du  Bois'  rights  in  the 
patent  of  land  called  the  "Minnesink  Patent"  aforesaid,  which  said  Dr. 
Du  Bois  died  in  October,  1745,  and  was  then  seized  with  his  brother,  the 
aforesaid  grandfather  John,  (wIvd  died  December,  1767,)  of  all  the  Du  Bois 


GENERAL  JOSEPH  GARDNER  SWIFT.  1 79 

right  to  the  said  "  Minnesink  lands,"  they,  two  brothers,  being  the  only 
heirs  and  sons  of  the  Rev.  Gualthemus  Du  Bois,  deceased  in  October, 
1 75 1.  S&Q  family  Bible  of  the  aforesaid  Louisa  M.  Swift,  Avhere  these 
deaths  are  recorded. 

I  employed  the  latter  days  of  October  in  removing  my  family  from 
Georgetown  to  Mrs.  Marvin's,  number  sixty-one  in  Broadway,  where  we 
had  a  comfortable  suite  of  rooms,  and  in  placing  my  sons  James  and 
Williams  with  Mr.  Craig  at  Erasmus  Hall  in  Flatbush,  and  depositing  my 
funds  of  one  thousand  five  hundred  dollars  in  the  United  States  Bank. 

Early  in  November,  on  the  2d,  I  returned  to  Baltimore  to  meet  General 
Bernard  and  Colonel  McRee,  to  pursue  the  board  duty;  thence  we  three 
proceeded  to  Old  Point  in  the  schooner  "  Hornet,"  Lieutenant  Ramage, 
United  States  navy,  and  also  to  Barnwell's  Bay  on  James  River,  and  Pargan 
Creek  in  continuance  of  our  former  incomplete  surveys  for  a  navy  depot, 
returning  via  Baltimore  to  Georgetown  on  i  ith  November,  on  which  day  I 
resigned  my  colonelcy  of  engineers,  reserving  all  the  rights  of  my  brevet 
brigadiership,  by  understanding  with  Colonel  Monroe  (the  President)  that 
in  case  of  war  he  would  restore  me  to  the  line,  as  one  of  the  rights  of  the 
brevet  rank  conferred  by  the  United  States. 

In  'reference  to  my  resignation  it  was  said  that  I  should  have  apprised  my 
brother  officers,  that  such  of  them  as  may  have  agreed  in  opinion  with  me 
might  have  united  with  me  in  leaving  the  corps.  I  avoided  this  to  prevent 
the  aspect  of  concert  to  interfere  with  the  public  service.  It  may  also  be 
noted  that  up  to  the  day  of  my  resignation  General  Bernard  had  not  in  a 
single  instance  objected  to  the  selection  of  any  site  for  defensive  works, 
that  had  been  occupied  by  any  officer  of  engineers.  He  did  deem  all  the 
works  too  small,  and  though  they  had  thus  far  served  the  purposes  for  which 
they  had  been  constructed,  he  was  generally  correct  in  that  opinion.  The 
chief  merit  of  a  military  engineer  is,  first,  selecting  the  proper  position ; 
next  in  order  is  the  adopting  a  suitable  plan  to  the  position  ;  and  next,  the 
ability  to  direct  workmen  to  make  the  enduring  walls. 

On  13th  November  I  notified  the  Secretary  of  the  Treasury  of  my 
acceptance  of  the  surveyorship,  it  having  been  required  by  the  Secretary  of 


l8o  THE  MEMOIRS   OF 

War  that  I  should  complete  in  the  ensuing  winter,  the  duty  that  had  been 
assigned  me  on  the  board  of  engineer  and  navy  officers. 

The  next  day  I  proceeded  to  New  York  and  appointed  a  very  worthy  man 
(Samuel  Terry)  my  deputy,  and  on  19th  of  the  month  commenced  my 
new  official  duty. 

On  30th  December,  having  arranged  with  the  collector  for  my  deputy  to 
perform  all  the  functions  of  office  in  my  absence,  proceeded  to  join  the 
board  of  engineers  at  Washington;  to  Philadelphia  in  company  with  the 
Vice-President,  Tompkins,  and  Commodore  Chauncey,  where  I  passed  my 
birthday  in  company  with  the  son-in-law  of  my  former  chief,  and  others 
of  the  families  of  Biddle  and  Cadwallader. 

1 8 19.  Early  in  January  arrived  at  Washington,  and  arranged  an  office 
for  the  engineer  board  at  Hysonimon's  in  Georgetown,  where  were 
assembled  General  Bernard,  Colonels  McRee  and  Armistead,  (my  successor 
in  the  engineer  department,)  and  Captain  Elliot  of  the  navy,  and  closed 
our  work  on  24th  February,  and  laid  the  plans  before  the  Secretary  of  War. 
On  this  board  McRee  and  myself  found  Bernard  rather  shy  in  giving  his 
reasons  for  the  preference  of  any  part  of  the  plan  that  was  his  own ;  a  glar- 
ing case  was  that  of  Sailer's  Point,  below  Baltimore,  where  Bernard  preferred 
a  front  of  much  more  exposure  to  enfilade  fire  than  McRee  and  myself  had 
commended.  His  uniform  reply  was  "Gentlemen,  your  plan  is  very  good, 
■mais,  I  prefer  my  idea."  We  both  said  we  had  a  right  to  his  reasons  in  the 
spirit  of  his  employment.  McRee  and  myself  also  preferred  a  smaller 
emicute  to  the  work  at  Old  Point.  I  had  so  stated  to  Mr.  Secretary 
Calhoun,  bu  twe  deferred  to  Bernard's  preference  and  popularity,  and  yet 
we  did  not  receive  his  reason  for  so  large  an  enclosure.  The  service  on 
this  board  at  Georgetown  left  an  impression  on  the  minds  of  McRee  and 
myself  that  Bernard  was  not  the  genius  he  had  been  reputed,  and  that  he 
was  not  candid  or  frank  in  his  exchange  of  thought  with  us.  I  suppose  he 
remembered  my  letters  of  objection  to  his  service ;  but  McRee  was  not  as 
liberal  in  his  views  of  that  gentleman's  course  on  the  board.  My  opinion 
of  Bernard  is  that  he  is  an  excellent  bureau  officer,  a  cold-hearted  man  ;  not 
in  any  sense  a  man  of  genius. 


GENERAL  JOSEPH  GARDNER  SWIFT.  l8l 

The  27th  February  I  returned  to  my  duties  at  the  Custom  House,  New 
York,  where  the  facetious  Major  Noah  said  in  his  Advocate  that  I  had  trans- 
ferred my  name  from  the  army  register  to  a  hogshead  of  rum.  He  did  not 
estimate  the  causes  that  drove  me  out  of  the  army. 

I  passed  the  winter,  or  rather  March,  in  applying  myself  to  becoming 
acquainted  with  the  theory  of  commerce  and  its  relations  to  my  vocations ; 
purchased  the  six  musty  8-vos.  of  Anderson,  and  read  on  revenue  laws. 

On  1st  April  commenced  housekeeping  at  two  hundred  and  thirteen  in 
Duane  Street,  and  made  an  agreeable  associate  in  my  neighbor,  Henry 
Cruger,  Esq.,  who  had  formerly  been  a  member  from  Bristol  in  Parliament. 
He  gave  me  a  corrected  reading  of  the  story  of  his  being  on  the  hustings 
with  Edmund  Burke,  whose  declamation  so  dumbfounded  his  mercantile 
ideas  that  he  did  not  presume  to  follow  the  speech  of  that  great  man  by  any 
effusions  of  his  own,  and  said  to  the  audience:  "Your  Mayor  can  do  no 
more  than  say  ditto  to  Mr.  Burke."  Mr.  Cruger  appeared  to  be  a  verj- 
highly  informed  person,  and  a  thorough  gentleman. 

On  15th  April  my  son  McRee  was  born,  and  named  for  my  friend  Colonel 
McRee  ;  and  which  son  and  the  daughter  Louisa  of  my  friend  Thomas 
March,  and  the  son  John  Ireland  of  my  friend  Fanning  C.  Tucker,  were 
baptized  at  my  house  in  Duane  Street,  by  Rev.  H.  G.  Feltus,  on  28th  day 
of  the  following  month  of  June.  In  the  month  of  May  Colonel  McRee 
visited  me,  and  to  see  his  namesake,  and  on  15th  of  that  month  he  left  us 
to  seek  a  farm  in  Indiana,  having  resigned  his  commission  in  the  engineers 
in  consequence  of  the  course  pursued  by  the  executive,  in  giving  General 
Bernard  rank  and  employment  not  by  any  means  contemplated  by  the 
resolution  of  i6th  February.  In  the  month  of  May  I  visited  the  West 
Point  foundry',  and  witnessed  the  first  delivery  of  ordnance  castings  to  the 
United  States  agent.  On  my  return  loth  May  placed  James,  Willy, 
Alexander  and  Tom  at  Mr.  Pickett's  school.  In  the  month  of  April  my 
brother  William  at  Pittsburgh  with  Major  Long,  on  Yellow  Stone  expe- 
dition. In  the  following  month  of  June,  by  invitation  of  the  Secretarj'  of 
War,  John  Garnet  of  New  Jersey,  James  Renwick  of  New  York,  Richard 
Patterson    of    Pennsvlvania,    Colonel    Fenwick,    Colonel   Totten,    Colonel 


1 82  THE  MEMOIRS   OF 

Archer  and  myself  formed  the  board  of  visitors  at  the  MiHtary  Academy, 
and  made  our  report  on  igth  June. 

The  4th  of  July  was  celebrated  this  year  with  much  ixlat  by  the  Society 
of  Cincinnati  in  New  York,  to  which  my  father  and  myself  were  invited,  and 
on  which  occasion  it  was  agreed  that  my  father  had  a  just  claim  to  a  mem- 
bership of  that  society,  by  reason  of  his  naval  services  as  surgeon  on  board 
the  "Portsmouth"  ship  of  war  that  was  captured  by  the  "  Culloden," 
seventy-four,  of  Rodney's  fleet,    17S1. 

On  19th  of  July  the  Rev.  Thomas  C.  Brownwell  went  with  me  to  my 
father's  quarters  on  Governor's  Island,  and  baptized  my  sister  Sarah 
Adams'  two  daughters,  Deborah  Delano  and  Mary  Harper,  both  born  there 
in  my  father's  house. 

July  29th,  the  families  of  my  friends  Fanning  C.  Tucker,  Thomas  March 
and  my  own,  twenty-six  in  all,  on  board  the  revenue  cutter,  Captain  Cahoon, 
to  Oyster  Bay,  and  with  Captain  George  Rogers  we  passed  some  pleasant 
weeks  at  this  watering  place ;  where  my  son  James  encountered  a  hornet's 
nest,  and  after  much  battling,  with  the  aid  of  Captain  Rogers,  the  nest  was 
conquered  after  receiving  several  severe  stings. 

August  2d,  on  a  visit  to  Captain  James  Farquhar  at  Green  Hill  —  "Sailor's 
Snug  Harbor."  I  used  his  telescope  to  observe  the  balloon  ascent  of  M. 
Guilles,  and  his  descent  in  a  parachute  to  Bushwick  on  Long  Island, 
landing  near  Newtown.  I  estimated  the  height  ascended  in  a  brief  space 
of  time  at  six  thousand  feet.  The  whole  time  occupied  in  ascent  and 
descent  was  about  three-fourths  of  one  hour. 

Although  my  functions  in  the  army  had  ceased,  I  could  not  become 
indifferent  to  the  action  of  the  government  in  reference  to  fortifying  our 
harbors,  and  other  national  improvements,  and  was  glad  to  find  that  half 
a  million  of  dollars  had  been  appropriated  for  harbor  defence  for  the 
current  year. 

From  Oyster  Bay  I  had  placed  my  family  to  board  with  Mrs.  Ross  of 
Jamaica.  She  is  the  daughter  of  the  former  friend  of  Colonel  Williams 
and  myself,  Mrs.  Wilkinson,  at  number  forty,  Broadway — the  headquarters 
of  our  engineers  in   the  city.     At  Jamaica  I  was  within  easy  ride  of   my 


GENERAL  JOSEPH   GARDNER  SIVIFT.  1 83 

city  duties,  and  early  in  September  established  my  family  on  Brooklyn 
Heights  at  the  house  of  a  friend,  George  Gibbs,  Esq.,  and  placed  my  sons 
James,  Williams  and  Alexander  at  Mr.  Armour's  school ;  my  son  Thomas 
with  his  grandfather,  the  surgeon  at  Governor's  Island. 

On  4th  September  the  mayor  of  the  city,  Mr.  Golden,  invited  me  to  aid 
the  corporation  in  examining  sources  of  a  supply  of  water  for  the  city. 
Accordingly  on  this  day,  accompanied  by  Dr.  Samuel  L.  Mitchell  and 
Robert  Macomb,  Esq.,  we  proceeded  to  the  Rye  Ponds,  and  by  the  usual 
mode  I  determined  the  flow  of  water  from  the  upper  pond  to  be  two  thou- 
sand one  hundred  and  twenty-eight  gallons  per  minute  into  the  lower  pond, 
and  thence  into  the  Bronx  two  thousand  four  hundred  and  eio-hty-four 
gallons  per  minute  were  discharged.  I  gave  Mr.  Golden  a  report  of  a  plan 
to  convey  this  water  to  the  Harlem  River,  and  across  the  same  to  a  reser- 
voir of  deposit  on  the  Heights,  deeming  them  to  be  far  below  the  point 
where  the  acqueduct  should  cross  the  Bronx  not  far  below  the  pond ;  and 
that  as  the  season  was  ordinary  in  its  character,  calculated  that  three 
millions  of  gallons  of  water  might  be  daily  received  into  said  reservoir  of 
deposit,  at  an  expense  of  about  two  millions  of  dollars.  The  amount  of 
the  estimate  was  deemed  to  be  too  large  by  the  wise  men  of  the  corporation, 
and  the  report  soon  went  to  sleep  in  the  pigeon-holes  of  the  mayor's  office. 
I  neither  charged  nor  received  any  fee  for  this  service. 

Early  in  October  John  and  Robert  Swartwout,  two  enterprising  o-entlemen 
of  the  city,  consulted  me  on  a  plan  to  bank  and  ditch  the  Newark  meadows, 
and  we  explored  them,  and  the  meadows  near  Hackensack  bridge  and 
Hoboken.  Those  gendemen  offered  me  an  interest  in  these  low  lands,  and 
I  went  with  them  to  Philadelphia  to  consult  Langdon  Gheeves,  Pierce 
Butler,  Thomas  Gadwallader,  Thomas  Biddle  and  Stephen  Girard  to  form  a 
company  to  complete  this  work,  and  thereby  supply  the  market  of  New 
York  with  beef  and  a  dairy.  Those  gentlemen  were  not  prepared  for  the 
enterprise,  but  took  time  to  consider  the  matter,  and  I  proceeded  no  further, 
and  thus  one  of  the  best  plans  for  public  and  private  utility  was  suspended 
on  7th  October,  18 19. 

On  14th  of  this  month  I  purchased  from  George  Gibbs  the  place  where  1 


1 84  THE  MEMOIRS   OF 

was  living  with  him  on  the  Heights,  for  ten  thousand  dollars — sixteen  lots, 
forming  a  square  overlooking  the  East  River  and  the  city  harbor  —  and  on 
1st  November  took  possession,  and  commenced  housekeeping  there  with 
my  family,  and  commenced  trimming  a  large  grape  vine  that  Mrs.  Gibbs  had 
transplanted  from  General  Smith's  garden  in  Smithville,  North  Carolina, 
and  I  eave  the  cuttings  of  the  vine  to  William  Prince,  the  florist  and 
gardener  at  Flushing,  who  wished  to  name  the  grape  "  The  Louisa,"  for 
my  wife,  but  both  she  and  myself  deemed  Mrs.  Isabella  Gibbs  entitled 
thereto,  and  accordingly  the  vine  was  named  "  The  Isabella,"  and  I  gave  the 
cuttings  to  many  of  my  neighbors  in  Brooklyn.  Thus  originated  the 
Isabella  Grape,  1824. 

November  5th  wrote  the  Secretary  of  War,  J.  C.  Calhoun,  Esq.,  that 
Robert  Tillotson  and  Colonel  Samuel  Hawkins  had  purchased  of  Roswell 
Hopkins  the  contract  to  build  forts  at  Mobile  Point,  that  had  been  con- 
tracted for  while  I  was  chief  engineer;  and  that  I  had  agreed  to  furnish 
professional  advice  to  execute  these  works  on  condition  of  receiving  one- 
fourth  of  the  net  profits. 

November  13th  my  aunt,  Lucretia  Lovering,  became  a  member  of  my 
family  at  Brooklyn.     She  is  of  Boston,  and  my  father's  favorite  sister. 

December  14th,  wrote  Colonel  McRee  at  Natchez  that  five  hundred 
dollars  had  been  deposited  for  him  in  the  Bank  of  New  York,  and  that 
eight  hundred  dollars  had  been  sent  to  him  from  the  War  Department,  the 
proceeds  of  the  sale  of  his  library. 

During  the  months  of  November  and  December  much  of  my  time 
had  been  employed  in  comparing  the  weights  and  measures,  and  in  the 
Revenue  Department.  My  report  thereon  in  my  files,  and  in  Congres- 
sional Document. 

In  1820  eight  hundred  thousand  dollars  appropriated  for  United  States 
fortifications. 

1820.  January,  Charles  Snowden  of  Philadelphia  proposed  to  sell  to  me  a 
large  tract  of  Schuylkill  coal  lands,  and  with  Professor  Hassler  and  his  large 
carriage,  and  Mr.  Charles  Loss,  a  miner,  Mr.  Snowden  and  myself,  proceeded 
on  8th  January  to  Orwicksburgh  in  Schuylkill  County,  Pennsylvania,  and 


GENERAL  JOSEPH  GARDNER  SWIFT.  185 

found  the  mines  very  promising,  and  in  presence  of  Mr.  Hassler  and  Mr.  Loss, 
Mr.  Snowden  sold  me  twenty  thousand  acres  of  coal  land  for  twenty  thousand 
dollars.  We  returned  by  Philadelphia,  and  there  met  Samuel  Miflin  and 
Cadwallader  Evans,  Esq.,  and  consulted  on  a  mode  of  transporting  this 
coal  to  market  b)-  improving  the  canal ;  and  on  our  arrival  at  Elizabethtown, 
New  Jersey,  met  Governor  Williamson,  who  agreed  to  present  to  the  legis- 
lature of  New  Jersey  my  plan  of  a  canal  from  the  Delaware  River  to  New 
York  Harbor,  to  transport  anthracite.  On  arriving  in  New  York,  the  first 
fire  in  that  city  made  of  this  coal  was  made  in  my  office.  The  next  day 
Snowden  declined  to  execute  the  sale  he  had  made  to  me,  and  made  a 
bargain  with  a  new  association  at  two  dollars  the  acre,  owing  me  two 
hundred  and  sixty  dollars,  cash  lent  to  him  17th  January. 

February  ist,  Alexander  Macomb,  Esq.,  father  of  the  general,  mentioned 
to  me  that  while  he  was  a  merchant  in  Detroit  in  1778,  Captain  Bard  of  the 
8th  British  infantry  captured  Daniel  Boon  of  Kentucky,  and  marched  him 
to  Detroit,  where  the  governor  (Hamilton)  treated  Boon  kindly,  and  gave 
him  liberty  to  return  to  his  family,  and  to  aid  him  gave  an  order  on  Mr. 
Macomb's  store  for  such  supplies  as  he  might  require  on  his  march.  Boon 
said :  "  I  cannot  accept  more  than  is  absolutely  necessary,  and  will  take  but 
twelve  shillings  for  myself,  and  a  pound  of  tea  for  my  wife."  What 
moderation    and    self  respect ! 

In  this  year,  Mr.  March,  Major  Tucker  and  myself  employed  Mr.  Samuel 
Seabury  to  teach  our  boys.  He  is  a  well  informed  young  man,  the  son  of 
a  clergyman  and  grand-son  of  Bishop  Seabury.  I  gave  him  the  range  of 
my  library,  and  found  him  an  interesting  companion.  He  was  spoken  of  as 
a  suitable  assistant  in  the  newly  projected  theological  seminary  advocated 
by  Bishop  Hobart,  O.  B.  Ogden  and  others,  and  in  which  I  was  a  trustee, 
but  opposed  to  the  location  of  such  an  institution  in  such  associations  as 
the  city  of  New  York  must  yield  to  youth. 

February  6th,  an  interesting  meeting  with  many,  including  Captain  E. 
Trenchard,  United  States  navy,  on  the  subject  of  the  colonization  of  free 
colored  people  in  Africa.  The  captain  was  on  the  eve  of  sailing  in  the 
United  States  ship  "Cyane"  for  Africa  with  the  ship  "Elizabeth,"  having 


1 86  THE  MEMOIRS   OF 

the   first   gang  of  such   people   set  free   to   commence   this   great   project. 

February  8th.  In  reply  to  an  enquiry  from  Hon.  John  C.  Calhoun  on 
the  subject  of  our  relations  with  Spain,  having  reference  to  the  island  of 
Cuba,  I  wrote  as  may  be  seen  in  the  Appendix. 

March  7th,  attended  a  large  political  meeting  at  Flatbush,  Long  Island,  with 
Lefferts  Lefferts,  Jeremiah  Johnston,  Jehiel  Jaggar,  etc.,  and  addressed  the 
meeting  on  the  inexpediency  of  moving  in  the  presidential  question  that 
had  been  commenced  by  Mr.  Crawford's  friends  in  Washington,  where  the 
Radicals  had  assailed  Mr.  Calhoun,  charging  the  war  department  with  mal- 
versation on  the  part  of  Mr.  Calhoun  and  General  Swift  in  reference  to 
contracts  with  Elijah  Mix,  which  contracts  had  been  made  by  me  before 
leaving  the  army,  and  approved  by  Mr.  Calhoun. 

On  2 2d  April  I  proceeded  to  Washington,  and  notified  the  committee  of 
Congress  of  my  readiness  to  show  that  the  engineer  department  had  done 
its  duty  in  reference  to  that  contract.  The  committee  did  not  report,  and  I 
returned  to  New  York,  escorting  Mrs.  Grace  Magruder  and  -Miss  Mary 
E.  Roberdeau  to  Brooklyn  as  guests  of  Mrs.  Swift,  and  found  there  my 
worthy  mother-in-law,  Mrs.  M.  M.  Walker,  and  my  aunts  Lucretia  and 
Philomela,  sisters  of  my  father,  on  a  visit ;  the  former  from  Wilmington, 
North  Carolina,  the  two  latter  from  Boston. 

May  1 2th.  By  direction  of  the  Secretary  of  the  Treasury,  commenced  a 
chemical  examination  of  the  sugars  from  Cuba  and  the  teas  from  China,  to 
decide  on  their  respective  qualities  to  regulate  the  duty,  and  the  qualities 
and  proper  names  of  all  the  wines  imported,  and  made  my  report  on  the 
same  to  the  treasury  department. 

June  7th,  as  president  of  the  Handel  and  Haydn  Society,  with  F.  C. 
Tucker,  Dr.  Oakey,  B.  Armitage  and  S.  Taylor,  got  up  the  first  oratorio  in 
the  United  States  at  St.  Paul's  Church,  and  raised  eleven  thousand  dollars 
for  the  Orphan  Asylum  and  rebuilding  Zion  Church.  This  was  a  great 
improvement  to  the  musical  taste  of  our  country. 

June  8th,  Nathaniel  Prime  and  myself  were  appointed  by  the  legislature 
of  New  Jersey  to  superintend  the  plan  to  open  the  Morris  Canal  improve- 
ment.    This  was  delayed. 


GENERAL  JOSEPH  GARDNER  SWIFT.  1 87 

June  loth  to  28th,  at  West  Point  by  invitation  of  Mr.  Secretary  Calhoun, 
with  Generals  Brown  and  Jessup,  Dr.  S.  L.  Mitchell,  James  Renwick  and 
Captain  Le  Compte,  to  examine  the  Military  Academy. 

July  1 8th,  Rev.  Dr.  Ireland,  Colonel  Totten,  Mr.  March,  Major  Tucker 
and  myself  had  a  fine  excursion  to  the  Fire  Place,  on  Long  Island,  where 
a  trout,  or  more  probably  a  salmon,  came  up  to  the  mill  race  of  the  river, 
and  was  captured,  weighing  thirteen  pounds. 

August  20th,  reported  to  the  Secretary  of  the  Treasury  on  a  plan  to 
modify  the  tariff  on  wines,  sugars  and  teas ;  that  a  reduction  of  duty 
would  tend  to  increase  the  quantum  of  importation,  and  consequently  the 
revenue;  and  that  in  reference  to  spirits,  the  proof  should  be  high  to  insure 
a  good  quality,  and  to  injure  less  the  public  health.  It  was  at  this  time  that 
Major  Noah  published  a  diatribe  on  my  "  transferring  my  name  from  the 
army  register  to  hogsheads  of  rum  and  boxes  of  champagne,"  in  allusion  to 
my  custom  house  functions,  and  in  ignorance  of  the  causes  that  had  induced 
me  to  leave  the  army,  but  in  reality  to  assail  me  as  a  political  friend  of 
Mr.  Calhoun. 

October  7th,  received  from  the  United  States  Comptroller  a  deed  of 
trust  of  Bald  Head,  Mallory  and  Blue  Banks  lands  on  Cape  Fear  River, 
North  Carolina — several  thousands  of  acres — with  the  directions  to  have 
the  same  acknowledged  before  the  mayor  of  the  city,  and  which  was  done 
as  agent  of  the  United  States  Treasury,  to  aid  in  suing  a  debt  of  General 
B.  Smith  as  security  for  Colonel  Read  a  defaulter,  and  late  collector  of  the 
port  of  Wilmington,  North  Carolina. 

This  matter  involved  many  difficulties,  and  final  loss  by  false  records. 

October  17th,  my  venerable  mother-in-law,  Mrs.  Walker,  returned  to 
Wilmington  to  live  with  her  son,  Julius  H.  Walker. 

November  ist,  commenced  our  Brooklyn  meetings  of  a  Social  Club: 
Commodore  Evans  and  Captain  Rogers,  United  States  navy,  Colonel 
Totten,  F.  C.  Tucker,  Thomas  March,  Thomas  J.  Chew,  J.  Jaggar,  G.  S. 
Wise.  My  brother  William  returned  on  Long's  expedition  to  the  Missis- 
sippi, and  laid  up  the  steam  engine  at  the  mouth  of  the  Cumberland. 

182 1.     January  23d,  my  sister,  Mary  Roberdeau,  married  to  Lieutenant  G. 


1 88  THE  MEMOIRS    OF 

% 

W.  Whistler,  United  States  army,  by  Rev.  Dr.  J.  B.  Romeyn,  giving  my 
father  great  uneasiness,  as  they  were  without  adequate  means  of  house- 
keeping. However,  my  mother  and  m)se]f  had  a  favorable  estimate  of  the 
w^orth  and  ability  of  Mr.  Whistler. 

In  the  previous  December,  and  in  this  month,  a  political  accusation  was 
made  on  the  part  of  Governor  De  W'itt  Clinton,  charging  me,  as  surveyor 
of  New  York,  with  action  under  the  influence  of  the  general  government, 
especially  Mr.  Monroe,  to  "oppose  State  authorities  in  the  elections." 
This  was  termed  the  "Green  Bag  Essay,"  and  was  signally  defeated  by  the 
oath  of  every  officer  of  the  department  under  my  official  control,  as  the 
documents  of  the  State  at  Albany  may  evince  to  any  reader.  In  fact 
Governor  Clinton  admitted  to  me  that  the  whole  had  been  the  result  of 
misrepresentation  to  him,  and  of  which  Colonel  Ferris  Pell  was  too 
conversant ;  and  I  was  glad  of  this  explanation  at  a  dinner  party  given  by 
Consul  Bogoot,  restoring  a  pleasant  personal  relation  between  Governor 
Clinton  and  his  less  important  friend  ;  for  friend  I  had  in  reality  been 
during  the  canvass,  as  also  had  my  deputy,  Samuel  Terry,  Esq. 

February  27th,  my  brother  William  arrived  in  Philadelphia  on  horseback 
from  mouth  of  Cumberland. 

March  2 1st,  William  McRee  passed  some  days  with  me  discussing  the 
cause  which  had  driven  both  of  us  from  the  army ;  the  very  improper 
relation  that  the  government  had  established  between  a  foreign  officer. 
General  Bernard,  and  the  corps  of  engineers.  The  government  made  him 
(McRee)  surveyor-general  of  Missouri,  and  which  office  he  found  he  could 
not  hold  consistently  with  his  ideas  of  propriety  and  the  habits  of  land 
speculation  then  prevailing  in  Missouri.  I  had  a  profound  respect  for 
Colonel  McRee  ;  he  had  a  superior  military  mind;   I  named  a  son  for  him. 

During  this  spring  a  general  inspection  of  the  revenue  service  was  made 
by  Mr.  Edward  Jones  of  the  United  States  treasury ;  a  gentleman  of  high 
honor  and  ability.  He  found,  as  had  been  represented  by  the  three 
branches  of  the  revenue  in  the  United  States  custom  house,  that  higher 
moral  qualities  were  needed  in  the  subordinate  officers,  to  secure  the  revenue. 

Three  hundred  and  two  thousand  dollars  appropriated  for  United  States 
fortifications  for  1821. 


GENERAL  JOSEPH  GARDNER  SWIFT.  189 

In  the  month  of  June,  by  invitation  of  the  Secretary  of  War,  I  attended 
as  a  member  of  the  board  of  visitors  the  examination  of  the  Military 
Academy,  and  found  great  improvement  made  by  the  judicious  adminis- 
tration of  Major  Thayer,  but  not  coinciding-  in  views  with  a  majority  of  the 
visitors  I  made  a  separate  report  to  the  War  Department,  as  the  United 
States  documents  exhibit,  and  my  own  files  contain.  Brother  William 
mapping  in  Philadelphia  till  June,  then  to  my  father's  at  New  London. 

In  this  month  I  wrote  the  Hon.  Henry  Clay  my  views  of  the  tendency  of 
the  importation  of  a  foreign  officer,  and  interpolating  him  into  the  corps 
of  engineers,  as  may  be  seen  in  the  Appendix. 

In  this  summer  I  became  interested  in  some  of  the  stocks  of  Wall  Street, 
and  with  Henry  Eckford,  Esq.,  the  distinguished  navy  architect,  applied  to 
the  legislature  to  incorporate  a  Life  and  Fire  Insurance  Company,  to  be 
connected  with  the  coal  speculations  in  Pennsylvania  that  had  caused  Prof. 
Hassler  and  the  miner,  Mr.  Loss,  to  explore  the  anthracite  region  in 
the  year  1820. 

September,  brother  William  to  Maine  with  Major  Abert,  surveying. 

1822.  In  the  spring  of  this  year  with  the  Rev.  Dr.  Ireland,  Colonel 
Totten,  Mr.  March  and  Colonel  J.  T.  Jones,  had  a  successful  trouting 
excursion  at  the  Fire  Place  on  Long  Island,  and  for  the  first  time  used 
Limerick  hooks  from  Dublin,  furnished  by  Colonel  Jones.  Totten  and 
myself,  while  busily  engaged  at  the  sport,  our  boat  "sprung  a  leak"  and 
sunk  from  under  us,  and  we  were  drenched,  though  our  sport  was  not 
spoiled.  Remember  Martin  Kelly,  Sackville  Street,  Dublin,  for  Limerick 
hooks. 

The  last  of  April  I  was  summoned  to  Washington  on  a  revival  of  the 
allegation  of  the  Radicals  of  Mr.  Calhoun's  alleged  malversation  in  the 
(now  become  celebrated)  Rip  Rap  contracts  with  Mix,  accusing  the 
minister  and  the  chief  engineer.  Swift,  of  partaking.  See  the  congressional 
documents  respecting  this  infamous  calumny,  and  also  my  files. 

An  attempt  was  made  this  season  by  the  economists  of  the  Radicals  in 
Congress  to  reduce  the  expenses  of  the  government  by  the  diminution  of 
the  personal  force  of  the  custom  house,  in  New  York  especially.      It  v>'as 


I  go  THE  MEMOIRS  OF 

found  on  inspection  that  the  only  change  which  true  economy  would  justify 
was  to  substitute  inspectors  of  ability,  and  who  would  not  spend  their 
time  in  porter-house  politics. 

In  this  summer  I  took  my  family  to  New  London,  where  my  father  had 
been  some  time  stationed  as  surgeon  in  the  army  after  leaving  Fort 
Columbus.  With  him  and  Captain  Rogers  of  the  navy,  Captain  Way, 
formerly  of  the  army,  and  Hon.  Lyman  and  Captain  Richard  Law,  made 
an  excursion  to  the  Rocks  in  Long  Island  Sound  under  the  lead  of 
General  William  North,  formerly  adjutant-general  United  States  army ;  and 
where  the  aboriginal  mode  of  cooking  blackfish,  called  "  totogue,"  (taken 
then  in  large  quantities,)  between  heated  flat  stones,  wdiich  made  a  very 
acceptable  feast. 

The  legislature  of  New  York  had,  in  the  April  past,  made  a  law  to 
regulate  the  streets  and  drainage  of  the  city  of  New  York  east  of  the 
Bowery  and  north  of  North  Street,  appointing  Professor  Adrain  of 
Columbia  College,  James  Renwick,  Esq.,  and  myself  the  commissioners  for 
this  purpose ;  and  our  essay  was  to  accomplish  the  same  by  a  minimum  of 
expense  to  the  owners  of  lots  consistently  with  a  thorough  attainment  of  a 
healthful  result  —  all  of  which  was  spoiled  by  speculating  aldermen. 

James  Renwick,  Esq.,  and  George  McCullock  of  New  Jersey  and  myself 
explored  the  country  to  decide  on  a  route  for  a  canal  from  Easton,  on  the 
Delaware  River,  to  New  York  by  the  Hopatcong  Lake  and  Rockaway  River, 
and  the  Muconectcong  River,  and  deemed  the  same  suitable  for  canal  and 
inclined  planes.  This  .service  was  performed  while  the  yellow  fever  had 
driven  the  whole  population  of  the  lower  city  to  Greenwich,  and  the  custom 
house  to  rooms  in  the  State's  prison. 

While  in  New  Jersey  I.  met  Miles  Smith,  Esq.,  of  New  Brunswick,  to 
whom  I  had  given  an  Isabella  grape  vine,  and  visited  his  residence  at  Ross 
1  hill  to  witness  its  great  growth.  Upon  his  farm  I  found  the  ruins  of  an 
old  fort  of  Revolutionary  times,  an  outpost  of  the  British  army,  and  at  the 
site  of  Colonel  B.  Tarleton's  marquee,  at  a  grotto  of  tree  roots,  found  a 
barrel  set  in  a  fine  spring  of  water  that  had  supplied  the  troops  with  water, 
still  flowing  in  abundance  and  purity. 


GENERAL  JOSEPH  GARDNER  SWIFT.  19 1 

In  the  month  of  July,  with  General  Scott,  visited  Sunswick,  the  seat  of 
Colonel  George  Gibbs  on  Long  Island,  to  compare  his  Tokay  grapes  with 
Isabellas  that  had  been  furnished  in  roots  from  my  garden.  Both  growing 
luxuriantly.  Concluded  it  well  to  engraft  the  hardy  Isabella  on  the  delicate 
Tokay.  We  returned  to  my  house  at  Brooklyn,  and  found  my  father  and 
aunt  Lucretia,  and  my  brother  William  arrived.  The  latter  had  become  a 
grave,  experienced  traveller,  from  Long's  expedition  among  the  Pawnee 
and  other  Indians,  and  an  expert  horseman  and  rifle  shot,  having  sustained 
Colonel  Long's  party  some  weeks  with  buffalo  and  venison  by  his  rifle. 
My  brother  had  command  of  the  military  guard  of  the  party. 

In  December  met  at  Mr.  Renwick's  Captain  Sabine  of  the  English 
engineers,  and  Captain  Chauncy  of  the  navy,  and  witnessed  experiments 
on  magnetic  intensity,  and  on  the  vibrations  of  Captain  Kater's  pendulum- 
point  of  suspension  and  oscillation,  practically,  as  they  are  in  theor}^ 
convertible  points,  and  gave  them  the  result  of  my  examination  of  the 
weights  and  measures  as  existing  in  our  revenue  offices. 

As  a  member  of  St.  Ann's  in  my  parish  in  Brooklyn,  gave  an  estimate 
to  rebuild  that  church  for  twelve  thousand  dollars.  Twelve  of  us  loaned 
each  five  hundred  dollars  for  the  object.  One  hundred  and  two  pews  and 
seventy  In  the  gallery.  On  the  completion  and  sale  every  expense  was 
covered  by  the  price  paid  for  the  pews,  and  leaving  the  church  free 
from  debt. 

Three  hundred  and  seventy  thousand  dollars  appropriated  for  fortifications 
in  the  United  States  in  1822. 

1823.  On  the  death  of  my  neighbor,  Rev.  John  Ireland,  myself  and 
Robert  Bach  became  his  executors,  and  sold  his  personal  estate  for  five 
hundred  and  eighty-two  dollars.  Sent  his  library  to  his  step-son,  Major 
Tucker,  the  plate  to  the  children,  and  the  gold  watch  of  Mr.  Ireland  to  his 
namesake,  John  Ireland  Tucker.  His  real  estate  were  lots  near  the  navy 
yard.  With  this  accomplished  gentleman  I  had  enjoyed  a  very  agreeable 
and  friendly  intercourse  for  ten  years. 

During  this  winter  the  Handel  and  Haydn  Society,  i.  e.,  a  portion  thereof, 
to  wit :  Daniel    Oaky,  F.   C.  Tucker,  Benjamin  Armltage,  Clement  Moor, 


192  THE  MEMOIRS   OF 

Rev.  J.  M.  Wainwright,  John  Delafield,  Walter  Phelps,  John  Chesterman, 
C.  W.  Taylor,  with  a  new  list  of  subscribers,  formed  the  Philharmonic 
Society  of  the  city:  Dr.  Post,  president;  J.  G.  Swift,  vice-president;  John 
Delafield,  secretary  and  treasurer.  At  the  opening  of  its  meetings  the 
president  and  vice-president  made  each  an  address.  This  society  did  much 
to  improve  the  public  taste  in  music. 

In  June  my  mother-in-law  and  grand-daughter  Mary  Ann,  and  cousin 
Mary  Orme,  John  O.  McNeill  and  Mrs.  S.'s  brother-in-law,  Edwin  Gay 
Osborne,  returned  to  North  Carolina.  Mr.  Osborne,  a  gentleman  of  fine 
mind,  attempted,  by  aid  of  my  friend  Cadwallader  Golden,  Esq.,  to  establish 
himself  in  the  city  as  a  counsellor  of  law,  but  did  not  succeed. 

On  loth  July  I  went  to  Washington  to  confer  with  Mr.  Calhoun  and 
Virgil  Maxey,  Esq.;  carried  with  me  for  him,  and  set  out  in  his  garden,  the 
first  Isabella  grape  of  Washington;  the  next  was  W.  W.  Seaton's.  The 
plant  flourished  there  exceeding  well,  and  grew  forty  feet  the  first  year. 

Here  it  was  agreed  that  I  should  collect  materials  and  publish  a  pamphlet 
to  promote  the  election  of  John  C.  Calhoun  to  the  presidency,  and  which 
was  publshed  by  me  under  the  title  of  "Principles,  not  Men."  Returned 
to  New  York  after  having  arranged  to  correspond  with  Samuel  L.  Southard, 
New  Jersey,  George  M.  Dallas,  Pennsylvania,  Judge  Gibson,  John  Conrad 
and  William  Fitzhugh  of  Virginia,  Benjamin  Howard  of  Baltimore,  John 
Devereux,  William  Gaston  and  William  R.  Swift  of  North  Carolina, 
George  McDuffie  of  South  Carolina,  and  James  Hamilton,  Colonel  Hayne, 
William  R.  King  and  Governor  Pickings  of  Alabama,  Henry  Le  Trevor  of 
Louisiana,  John  H.  Eaton  of  Tennessee,  G.  M.  Bibb  Kent  and  Governor 
Edwards  of  Missouri,  R.  B.  Taney  and  General  Winder  of  Maryland. 

Made  an  excursion  to  West  Point  with  General  Scott  and  lady,  W.  W. 
Seaton  and  lady,  Thomas  Marsh  and  lady,  Mary  Roberdeau  and  my  own 
family. 

September  i6th,  my  son  Jonathan  Williams  Swift  was  appointed  a  mid- 
shipman in  the  navy. 

To  Morristown  to  meet  Colonel  Totten,  General  Bernard  and  James 
Renwick,  to  consult  on  the  interest   the  United  States   may  have  in  the 


GENERAL  JOSEPH  GARDNER  SWIFT.  1 93 

construction  of  the  Morris  Canal  with  inclined  planes,  to  overcome  the  rise 
and  fall  of  nine  hundred  feet.  Thence  proceeded  to  examine  the  copper 
mines  at  Somerville,  as  a  source  of  supply  to  the  United  States  mint; 
thence  returned  to  the  route  of  the  canal  at  Pompton  and  Passaic  Falls. 
At  the  old  hotel  of  General  Goodwin  found  an  album  containing  a  record, 
and  some  lines  on  the  scene  by  General  (then  lieutenant)  Macomb  and 
family,  with  Walker  Armistead  and  J.  G.  Swift,  13th  August,  1803. 

November  2d.  Died  at  Wilmington,  North  Carolina,  my  friend  Archibald 
Fotherlngham  McNeill,  late  Lieutenant-Colonel  United  States  Dragoons, 
and  father-in-law  of  Julius  H.  Walker.  He  died  in  the  home  where  I  was 
married,  at  "The  Barn." 

In  the  month  of  December  I  made  an  inspection  of  the  works  on  the 
Morris  Canal,  with  my  brother  commissioner,  John  Scott,  and  our  engineer, 
Captain  Beach;  the  company  having  decided  to  increase  the  number  of 
workinor  hands  to  unite  the  Hudson  and  Delaware. 

Five  hundred  and  eight  thousand  dollars  appropriated  for  fortifications 
in  the  year   1823. 

1824.  February  24th,  my  son  J.  W.  Swift  sailed  in  the  United  States 
frigate  Cyane  for  the  Mediterranean,  with  Captain  John  Orde  Creighton. 

In  March  I  purchased  from  Daniel  Griswold  one-half  the  stock  of  the 
Williamsburgh  ferry,  and  also  the  one-half  of  the  Jackson  Street  ferry, 
Brooklyn;  and  sold  out  the  latter  to  J.  B.  Clark  at  a  good  profit  —  some  one 
thousand  two  hundred  dollars. 

Went  to  Albany  with  Samuel  L.  Gouverneur  and  Thomas  L.  Smith  to 
obtain  a  charter  for  the  Sun  Fire  Insurance  Company,  and  succeeded.  In 
this  month  also,  of  April,  the  legislature  appointed  Edmund  Smith,  Thomas 
Hyatt  and  myself,  commissioners  to  subscribe  for  the  Richmond  Turnpike 
stock ;  the  object  being  to  aid  Governor  Tompkins  to  settle  his  confused 
accounts.  My  ki>owledge  of  his  heedless  mode  of  business  had  been,  that 
he  had  in  the  late  war  advanced  money  to  me  for  the  United  States  to 
prosecute  the  public  works,  and  to  sustain  the  Military  Academy.  Of  the 
integrity  of  Governor  Tompkins  I  had  not  a  shadow  of  doubt. 

In  this  month  Mr.  Jefferson  wrote  me  of  his  w-ish  to  complete  the  cupola 


194  THE  MEMOIRS   OF 

of  the  University  of  Virginia,  and  requested  me  to  loan  liim  my  De  Lorme 
on  such  architecture,  and  I  sent  the  work  to  him  by  Colonel  B.  Peyton  ;  and 
it  was  duly  returned  to  my  library. 

On  3d  June  died  my  dear  mother,  in  fine  health.  With  ni)-  father 
she  was  on  a  visit  to  me.  She  had  gone  to  the  city  to  her  sister  Elizabeth 
Rowland  and  niece  Nancy  (the  wife  of  Captain  Bennet),  and  was  seized 
with  laryngitis,  which  Dr.  Mott  and  Dr.  Bull  pronounced  fatal,  though  an 
essay  was  made  by  an  incision  into  the  throat  below  the  glottis  to  permit 
breathing.  My  father  and  brother  William  were  present  with  the  Rev.  Dr. 
Feltus.  She  became  easy  and  died  calmly,  in  full  trust  in  the  mercy  of  her 
Saviour. 

My  father's  heartfelt  prayer  at  the  foot  of  my  mother's  bed  was  for  mercy, 
and  her  safety  in  this  world,  or  acceptance  in  a  better,  and  was  a  most 
impressive  scene.  They  had  lived  in  undisturbed  harmony  and  love 
together  forty-one  years. 

The  funeral  was  from  my  house,  and  the  interment  in  the  cemetery  of 
St.  Ann's  at  Brooklyn.  Dr.  William  Swift,  United  States  navy  (our  cousin,) 
Dr.  Prime  (another  cousin,)  Colonel  Trumbull,  General  Gaines,  Joshua 
Sands,  F.  C.  Tucker,  Thomas  March,  Samuel  L.  Gouverneur,  Daniel  Okey, 
my  father  and  brother,  and  myself.      Rev.  Dr.  Onderdonk  officiating. 

In  this  month,  at  the  earnest  request  of  his  brother  James,  I  took  my  son 
Alexander  to  West  Point,  where,  by  permission  of  the  Secretary  of  War, 
and  by  the  kind  attention  of  Colonel  Thayer,  Alexander  was  to  receive 
tuition  from  Mr.  Davies  and  Mr.  Ross,  my  two  friends.  It  was  the  period  of 
the  examination,  to  which.  General  Jarvis,  the  patroon  Van  Renssellaer, 
General  W.  H.  Sumner  and  the  Romish  Priest  Levens,  (a  very  able  man), 
and  myself,  constituted  the  board  of  visitors. 

In  honor  of  "independence"  this  July,  the  notorious  William  Cobbet 
gave  a  dinner  to  Governor  Tompkins  at  Tammany  Hall.  Mr.  Cobbet's 
toast  was  disrespectful  of  his  sovereign.  I  declined  drinking  the  toast; 
Mr.  Cobbet  asked  my  reason.  I  told  him  not  that  I  had  any  especial 
respect  for  his  sovereign,  but  that  I  did  not  approve  a  subject  or  citizen's 
offering  a  mark  of  disrespect  to  the  chief  magistrate  of  his  native  land  in 


GENERAL  JOSEPH  GARDNER  SWIFT.  195 

SO  public  a  form.  The  appeal  was  made  to  the  governor,  who  said  I  had 
uttered  his  own  sentiment.  The  party  became  uncomfortable  and  soon 
separated.     I  never  met  Mr.  Cobbet  afterwards. 

In  this  summer  much  effort  was  made  to  promote  the  cause  of  the 
oppressed  modern  Greeks.  The  remembrance  of  the  glory  of  the  ancients 
caused  many  meetings.  I  was  elected  to  preside  at  a  meeting  in  their 
favor  on  Long  Island,  and  liberal  gifts  were  bestowed,  and  Mr.  Clay  and 
Mr.  Webster  made  stirring  speeches.  The  signal  of  their  cause  was  erected 
on  the  Heights,  in  my  garden,  by  William  Wood,  Esq.,  in  the  name  of  the 
ladies  of  Brooklyn,  and  several  orations  were  pronounced  to  aid  in 
gathering  funds  to  send  a  frigate  to  the  aid  of  Greece  as  against  the  Turk. 
A  frigate  was  built  by  Mr.  Eckford  called  the  "  Hellenese,"  etc. 

As  a  member  of  a  committee  of  the  American  Bible  Society,  of  which  I 
had  been  a  manager  from  its  institution  in  1816,  the  functions  of  the 
secretary  were  presented  as  deserving  remuneration.  The  person  was  the 
Rev.  Dr.  Woodhull,  and  until  further  consideration  I  ureed  that  one 
hundred  dollars  be  presented  to  the  doctor  for  past  services,  and  the  same 
was  adopted. 

In  August  the  Marquis  La  Fayette  arrived  in  the  "  Cadmus,"  Captain 
Frank  Allen.  At  the  reception  he  mistook  me  for  his  comrade.  Colonel 
Fish,  who  had  not  yet  arrived.  On  explaining  he  said:  "The  opportunity 
is  happy  for  me  to  regret  my  not  seeing  your  son  at  the  Grange  with  his 
letter."  I  had  given  Willy  a  letter  to  the  Marquis  on  his  going  out  in  the 
"  Cyane  "  with  our  minister,  Mr.  Brown.  He  then  asked  me  to  accompany 
him  to  call  on  Mrs.  Lewis,  "Nelly  Custis"  when  he  saw  her  last  at  Mount 
Vernon  with  General  Washington.  The  meeting  was  quite  a  scene.  The 
interview  between  La  Fayette  and  Van  Buskirk  was  touching.  La  Fayette 
had  met  the  father  in  the  trenches  of  Yorktown,  and  given  him  a  sword  for 
his  gallantry.  This  son  was  a  stout  Jersey  farmer.  He  held  the  sword  in 
his  hand,  and  with  tears  in  his  eyes  said  :  "  My  father  is  dead  ;  he  left  me 
this  sword,  and  I  am  come  to  see  you,  and  to  show  it  to  you,  and  to  tell  you 
that  we  all  love  you !  "     There  was  not  a  dry  eye  in  the  room. 

The   next   day  we   had   an   excursion   to    the    fort    of  his   name   at  the 


196  THE  MEMOIRS    OF 

Narrows.  The  work  had  been  built  while  I  was  chief  engineer,  and  I  had 
requested  the  President  to  name  it  for  La  Fajette.  While  walking  the 
gallery  he  said  :  "Do  you  think  the  cannon  at  Monmouth  were  heard  in  the 
Narrows?"  looking  over  to  the  Monmouth  shore.  "O,  it  was  a  very  hot 
day."  I  asked  him  of  the  conduct  of  Lee  on  that  day.  He  said:  "Gen- 
eral Lee  was  a  brave  man,  but  of  bad  management  on  that  day."  Early  in 
September  La  Fayette  went  to  West  Point,  and  invited  me  to  accompany 
him.  I  was  glad  to  do  so,  and  took  with  me  my  son  Thomas.  On  the 
way  up  the  Hudson  he  told  me  Bernard  had  said  to  him  I  had  treated  him 
and  his  family  with  much  kindness,  though  he  knew  I  was  not  satisfied  with 
his  connection  with  the  corps  of  engineers.  La  Fayette  mentioned  his  own 
and  Mr.  Gallatin's  agency  in  selecting  Bernard,  and  said :  "  Your  country 
did  not  object  to  my  services."  My  reply  was:  "O  no,  general,  we  are  all 
grateful  for  your  devotion  to  our  cause,  but  the  case  is  very  different,  and 
our  necessities  also."  I  craved  his  pardon  for  not  agreeing  with  him  on 
this  matter.  He  took  my  hand  in  a  gracious  manner,  and  hoped  I  would 
again  enter  the  army.  The  meeting  at  West  Point  was  a  burst  of  boyish 
and  natural  feeling.  It  entirely  overcame  La  Fayette  ;  he  wept,  but  ate  a 
hearty  dinner,  and  drank  Madeira  by  the  tumbler,  and  a  good  piece  of  beef, 
saying:  "If  I  had  not  had  a  good  stomach  the  Austrian  jail  would  have 
killed   me;"  and  so  we  drank  to  the  health  of  Huger  and   Bollman. 

On  my  return  to  Brooklyn  I  met  my  brother-in-law,  Julius  Walker,  and 
his  very  nice  wife,  Mary  Ann  Smith  of  Beaufort,  South  Carolina,  a  very 
excellent  lady.  Julius  was  ill,  and  they  returned  to  Carolina  early  in 
September  on  horseback,  through  upper  Virginia  and  North  Carolina,  into 
Pendleton  in  South  Carolina. 

In  this  fall,  by  correspondence  with  the  members  of  the  United  States 
Military  Philosophical  Society,  the  funds  of  that  society  were  given,  by  my 
advice,  to  the  New  York  Lyceum  of  Natural  History;  a  large  majority 
consenting,  though  a  few  (Colonel  Thayer  among  the  number,)  thought  a 
better  use  could  have  been  made  of  the  fund  —  about  two  thousand  dollars. 

In  the  month  of  October  Mr.  Whistler,  who  hatl,  by  my  recommendation 
to  General  Porter,  been  attached  as  draughtsman  to  the  north-west  boun- 


GENERAL  JOSEPH   GARDNER  SWIFT.  197 

dary  commission,  -wrote  me  of  the  troubles  of  determining  the  Hne,  and 
Major  Joseph  Delafield  consulted  me  with  the  maps,  and  I  pointed  to  what 
he  and  myself  deemed  the  true  point  in  the  Lake  of  the  Woods. 

In  November  the  Schuylkill  Coal  Company  alloted  me  an  interest  at  par 
in  that  company,  in  some  consideration  of  my  services  in  1820  in  bringing 
that  coal  into  notice.  I  sold  the  stock,  and  after  paying  the  company  the 
par  value  had  some  one  thousand  four  hundred  dollars  ;  which  is  all  the 
benefit  I  had  from  an  enterprise  which,  if  Charles  Snowden  had  been  true 
to  his  bargain,  had  made  my  family  opulent. 

This  fall  Joshua  Sands  was  elected  to  Congress.  Remembrance  of  my 
services  in  King's  County  during  the  war,  and  on  Staten  Island,  and 
through  my  friend  Mr.  Pierson,  the  iron-master  of  Rockland,  Mr.  Sands, 
an  old  Federalist,  received  the  major  vote  at  my  poll  in  that  democratic 
district.  Mr.  Sands  told  President  Adams  that  but  for  my  exertions  he 
could  not  have  been  elected.  This  was  a  result  of  actual  personal  exertion, 
with  a  few  influential  friends  in  each  district. 

At  the  county  court  in  Flatbush  in  October,  commenced  by  the  grand 
jury,  the  first  important  mov^ement  in  the  improvement  of  Brooklyn  streets. 
As  foreman  of  the  jury  I  was  requested  to  furnish  surveys,  which  resulted 
in  the  opening  of  Firman  Street,  the  initial  act  of  street  opening  that  led 
the  way  to  considerable  improvement  in  that  place,  and  market,  etc. 

In  Novem.ber  my  father  and  his  old  friend  and  school-mate.  General 
Mattoon,  once  Adjutant-General  of  Massachusetts.  His  object  was  to  get 
his  son  Dwight  Foster  sent  to  West  Point.  I  made  an  earnest  appeal  to 
that  effect  to  the  Secretary  of  War.  F"rom  an  early  day  I  had  advocated 
sending  the  sons  of  the  most  talented  men  in  the  country  to  that  institution, 
as  a  better  plan  than  selection  by  congressional  districts,  that  was  beginning 
to  have  sway  at  Washington. 

In  the  same  month  there  was  submitted  to  Governor  De  Witt  Clinton 
the  plan  of  the  Morris  Canal.  That  gentleman  consented  to  go  before  the 
New  Jersey  legislature  to  give  that  body  his  views  of  the  mutual  benefit 
thereof  to  both  States,  and  by  his  invitation,  and  at  the  expense  of  the 
company,   I    accompanied   Mr.    Clinton   with    my   plans,    etc.      Mr.   Clinton 


1 98  THE  MEMOIRS   OF 

urged  the  benefit  of  extending  banking  privileges  to  the  canal,  and  his 
views  were  adopted  by  the  legislature. 

Seven  hundred  and  six  thousand  dollars  for  United  States  fortifications 
appropriated  in    1824. 

1825.  In  April,  as  an  agent  of  the  Water  Company  of  the  city  of  New 
York,  (of  which,  by  the  charter  of  March  I  was  a  commissioner,)  an 
exploration  of  the  Broux  was  made,  and  also  of  the  Croton  Rivers  for  a 
supply  of  water.  The  result  in  reference  to  the  Broux  sustained  the  gauges 
made  by  me  in  18 19,  and  of  the  Croton  there  remained  not  a  doubt  of  its 
abundance  ;  but  the  corporation  declined  acting  upon  those  data. 

In  the  summer  I  placed  my  son  Julius  at  the  school  of  Mr.  Clark  at  Cow 
Neck,  on  Long  Island,  the  school  in  Brooklyn  not  suiting  my  views  in  conse- 
quence of  improper  associates,  and  the  peculiar  disposition  to  avoid  study 
which  Julius  evinced,  though  a  boy  of  fine  temper  and  most  generous 
disposition. 

Took  my  family,  with  Major  Tucker,  to  West  Point,  where,  with  General 
Brown  and  Colonel  Thayer  an  examination  of  the  Academy  was  made,  and 
found  to  have  progressed  very  usefully  under  the  colonel's  care.  The 
o-eneral  and  myself  returned  to  New  York  with  our  families  and  Major 
Tucker's,  and  were  launched  in  the  Ohio,  seventy-four,  at  the  navy  yard. 
This  fine  ship  had  been  drafted  and  constructed  by  our  friend  Henry 
Eckford. 

In  September  my  wife  accompanied  me  over  the  route  of  the  Morris 
Canal  to  Hopatcong  Lake ;  and  witnessed  the  forging  of  iron  from  the 
loup  under  the  hammer,  conducted  by  John  Scott  and  Fay,  men  of  six  feet, 
and  of  great  strength  and  dexterity,  wielding  the  tongs  and  loup  with 
graceful  ease. 

At  this  place,  by  appointment,  I  met  the  other  commissioner.  Colonel 
Scott,  and  our  engineer.  Captain  Beach,  and  arranged  with  them  the 
location  of  an  inclined  plane  and  acqueduct  at  Dover,  near  the  Tamarack 
Swamj),  and  returncil  to   IJrooklyn  by  Passaic  P'alls. 

Had  a  meeting  of  the  Morris  Canal  Company,  in  which  I  held  a  large 
interest,  and  became  a  director  of  the  Fulton  Bank. 


GENERAL  JOSEPH  GARDNER  SWIFT.  199 

This  fall  Mr.  Eckforcl  purchased,  through  the  negotiation  of  Mr. 
Rathbone,  the  N^atiojial  Advocate,  and  engaged  me  to  superintend  the 
conducting  of  the  same,  and  for  which  I  employed  Mr.  Snowden  and  Mr. 
Casey.  It  was  Mr.  Eckford's  purpose  to  advocate  the  election  of  John 
Quincy  Adams  to  the  presidency.  Mr.  Eckford  recommended  me  for  vice- 
president  of  the  Life  and  Fire  Insurance  Company,  and  thus  I  became 
interested  in  the  stocks,  and  induced  my  father  and  my  brother  William  to 
invest  funds  in  the  Life  and  Fire.  My  brother  William  was  married  this 
fall  to  Miss  Mary  Stuart,  the  daughter  of  the  British  consul  at  New  London. 

I  purchased  the  property  on  the  Seventh  Avenue  between  Thirty-first 
and  Thirty-third  Streets,  (about  one  hundred  lots,)  for  seven  thousand 
and  odd  dollars;  borrowed  the  amount  from  the  Life  and  Fire  Insurance 
Company,  and  mortgaged  the  property  to  that  company  as  security,  and 
commenced  a  house  and  warden  thereon. 

This  winter  my  sons  James  and  Williams  went  to  the  city  of  Washington, 
the  first  to  procure  from  President  Adams  a  restoration  to  West  Point,  from 
whence  he  had  been  dismissed  for  absence  for  six  hours  without  leave,  and 
for  declining  to  answer  a  query  that  would  have  implicated  his  class-mate. 
Mr.  O.  B.  Ogden  and  Mr.  Daniel  Webster  had  presented  the  case,  with 
their  opinion  of  its  severity  of  punishment,  and  Mr.  Adams  called  on  Mr. 
Barbour,  the  Secretary  of  War,  to  know  why  this  youth  should  not  be 
restored.  Mr.  Barbour  said  that  the  son  of  one  who  had  been  at  the  head 
of  the  Academy  was  a  proper  example  for  discipline.  In  my  opinion  the 
stronger  cause  was  that  the  father  was  the  political  friend  of  Mr.  Calhoun. 
Mr.  Adams  acquiesced  in  Mr.  Barbour's  view,  but  directed  that  James  should 
be  employed  in  the  civil  engineer  department,  under  William  Howard,  Esq., 
of  Baltimore.  My  son  William  was  at  Washington  to  be  examined  for  his 
naval  position. 

In  the  spring  of  this  year  I  had  been  reelected  to  the  common  council  of 
Brooklyn,  and  had  presented  several  plans  for  the  improvement  of  the 
village. 

My  friends  Isaac  Pierson,  S.  L.  Gouverneur,  and  Mr.  N.  Prime  called  on 
me  to  caution  me,  in  the  month  of  May,  in   relation  to  the  extent  of  i\Ir. 


200  THE  MEMOIRS   OF 

Eckford's  ship  building  liabilities,  and  that  too  much  use  was  made  of  bonds 
of  the  Life  and  Fire  Insurance  Company  in  purchases  for  the  Brazilian 
frigates  building  by  Mr.  Eckford.  Without  using  names  I  mentioned  these 
rumors  to  Mr.  Eckford.  He  stated  to  me  that  all  such  rumors  were 
groundless,  and  I  had  an  implicit  faith  in  him  and  his  ability.  In  July  a 
note  from  Mr.  Eckford  astonished  me  with  an  announcement  that  the  Life 
and  Fire  Insurance  Company  could  not  meet  the  demands  for  cash  on  the 
bonds  becoming  due.  The  next  day  I  was  served  with  a  notice  from  the 
district  attorney,  Hugh  Maxwell,  Esq.,  that  the  whole  company  of  the  Life 
and  Fire  Insurance  were  indicted  for  a  conspiracy  to  defraud  the  State. 
The  trials  progressed ;  the  great  question  was  whether  a  company  issuing 
bonds,  failing  to  redeem  on  demand,  could  be  deemed  guilty  of  a  conspiracy 
or  fraud.  The  court  decided  that  my  trial  should  be  separated  from  that  of 
others,  the  testimony  was  brief,  and  I  made  all  the  defence  that  was  made 
in  my  case  by  simply  addressing  the  court  and  jury  in  these  words:  "I 
know  myself  not  to  have  been  guilty  of  any  fraud,  or  of  any  design  to 
defraud,  and  if  this  jury  can  find  me  guilty  on  the  evidence  I  shall  silently 
submit  as  a  punishment  for  my  credulity."  The  jury  in  a  few  minutes 
returned  with  a  verdict  of  "not  guilty  —  hwt  persecuted T  The  last  the  judge 
refused.  When  the  verdict  of  "  not  guilty"  was  alone  rendered  a  cry  of 
approbation  rang  through  a  crowded  audience,  and  Peter  A.  Jay,  of  counsel 
adverse  to  me,  came  up  to  me  with  tears  in  his  eyes,  saying:  "General, 
this  is  a  righteous  verdict,  and  I  am  thankful  for  your  acquittal."  But  the 
blows  of  accusation  and  trial  were  of  course  mortifying,  and  injurious  to  my 
influence  as  a  man  of  business ;  a  severe  comment  on  a  poor  gentleman's 
essay  to  become  rich  in  Wall  Street.  The  validity  of  these  indictments 
came  before  the  supreme  court,  and  the  whole  proceeding,  the  attorney, 
Maxwell,  pronounced  illegal.  But  beyond  all  doubt  the  failure  of  the  Life 
and  Fire  had  been  occasioned  by  the  losses  in  the  ship-building  business  of 
Mr.  Eckford,  and  in  his  speculations  in  real  estate.  My  confidence  in  Mr. 
Eckford  was  high  ;  I  had  frequently  large  sums  of  money  at  command  of 
his  in  bank,  but  I  never  borrowed  a  dollar  from  him.  The  only  charge 
found  (jn  his  books  was  the  purchase  money  of  the  National  Advocate,  which 


GENERAL  JOSEPH   GARDNER  SWIFT.  20 1 

had  isassed  through  my  hands.  On  my  trial  it  was  proven  that  I  was  not 
indebted  to  the  Life  and  Fire  Company.  I  had  placed  in  Mr.  Eckford's 
hands  my  city  property,  in  trust  to  secure  the  purchase  money  of  that 
property.  Pending  these  trials  President  Adams  had  assured  Joshua  Sands, 
Esq.,  and  George  Sullivan,  Esq.,  that  if  my  trial  acquitted  me  he  should 
renominate  me  for  the  office  in  the  customs  held  by  me  ;  but  Mr.  Clay's 
friends  wanted  place,  and  Mr.  Stagg  was  nominated  on  the  expiration  of 
my  second  four  years.  Probably  the  President's  interest  in  me  had  been 
somewhat  blighted  by  an  accidental  omission  of  mine  while  presiding  at 
the  "  Ayacucho  dinner"  at  the  City  Hotel.  The  toast  of  President  Adams 
had  been  misplaced  without  my  privity.  I,  however,  do  not  intend  to  say 
that  he  purposed  me  any  injustice.  He  is  a  man  of  strong  antipathies,  and 
of  no  strong  friendship,  and,  indeed,  I  never  pretended  to  enjoy  his  favor. 

In  the  summer  of  the  current  year  the  Secretary  of  War  had  addressed 
to  several  officers  in  and  out  of  the  army  —  General  Cadwallader  and  Gen- 
eral Sumner  among  the  latter,  and  myself  also.  My  views  were  given  on 
the  subject  of  the  secretary's  address  —  the  militia,  of  its  classification  — 
and  that  no  higher  militia  grade  should  be  conferred  than  that  of  chief  of 
battalion,  and  that  commissions  should  be  conferred  only  upon  e.xamination 
of  the  candidate.  My  letters  on  these  subjects,  and  others,  may  be  seen  in 
the  Congressional  Reports  of  '26  and  '27. 

$735,000  appropriated  for  fortifications. 
53,000  wall  Boston  Harbor. 
100,000  for  arsenals. 


$888,000  for  1825. 

Seven  hundred  and  nineteen  thousand  dollars  for  fortifications  in  1826. 

In  this  year  was  made  the  first  appropriation  for  constructing  and 
Improving   rivers   and   harbors. 

1827.  The  commencement  of  this  year  found  me  with  a  large  family  and 
very  limited  means  to  support  them.  I  had,  by  a  loan  from  my  brother-in- 
law,  Whistler,  the  fee  he  had  received  for  services  on  the  boundary  commis- 
sion ;  invested  the  amount  In  the  purchase  of  a  small  estate  in  Flatbush, 


202  THE   MEMOIRS    OF 

and  commenced  cultivation.  But  it  was  not  adequate  to  our  support,  and  I 
turned  it  over  to  Mr.  Whistler,  and  he  sold  it  for  the  full  amount  of  the 
loan,  to  wit :   one  thousand  five  hundred  dollars. 

I  thought  of  civil  engineering  in  the  West.  The  estate  of  Mrs.  Swift's 
father  was  in  the  hands  of  her  brother  James,  and  by  him  assumed  as  a  debt 
of  over  five  thousand  dollars  ;  said  brother  James  held  his  father's  lands  In 
West  Tennessee.  I  concluded  to  make  a  home  for  my  family  upon  Louisa's 
portion  of  these  lands.  In  the  midst  of  my  purpose  our  children  were 
attacked  by  measles,  and  one,  a  daughter  Harriet,  had  died,  and  was 
interred  in  the  grave  of  my  mother.  Going  so  far  was  by  some  friends 
deemed  doubtful  —  most  movements  are  so  —  but  I  could  not  find  success 
in  a  city  whose  archives  recorded  me  "its  benefactor"  in  the  late  war.  My 
misfortunes  had  produced  the  usual  effect,  loss  of  prosperity,  loss  of  influ- 
ence. I  had,  however,  many  instances  of  confidence  among  my  armv 
associates,  especially  Colonel  Thayer,  Captain  J.  L.  Smith,  General  Scott, 
etc.;  among  the  merchants  of  the  city.  Fanning  Cobham  Tucker  and 
Daniel  Okey,  and  a  touching  one  from  the  negroes,  who,  during  my  trial 
prayed  regularly  for  my  "safe  deliverance  from  the  great  uncertainties  of 
the  law." 

Immediate  commencement  of  my  journey  to  Tennessee  was  delayed 
by  a  summons  to  Washington  before  a  committee  of  Congress,  on  a  revival 
of  the  assault  upon  John  C.  Calhoun,  now  vice-president,  and  who  had 
vacated  the  chair  pending  the  investigation  of  the  Rip  Rap  contract,  while 
Mr.  Calhoun  was  Secretary  of  War  and  myself  chief  engineer.  The 
details  of  this  political  struggle,  and  its  failure,  are  in  the  documents  of 
Congress,  and  on  my  files. 

In  February  I  returned  to  Brooklyn,  and  sent  my  baggage,  library,  and 
farming  tools  to  my  friend,  Gilbert  Russell  of  New  Orleans,  to  be  shipped 
to  Memphis.  Early  in  March  my  wife,  Thomas,  Sally,  Julius,  McRee, 
Josephine  and  Charlotte,  and  boy  Bill  proceeded  to  Barnum's  in  Baltimore, 
and  thence  by  jjrivate  carriage  over  the  Allegheny  mountains  to  Wheeling, 
and  down  the  Ohio  (passing  our  son  James  in  an  ascending  boat,)  to 
Cincinnati,  and   thence  down   the  river  to  the  Mississippi,  to  Memphis,  and 


GENERAL  JOSEPH  GARDNER  SWIFT.  203 

purchased  a  ton  of  bacon  and  six  barrels  of  flour,  and  with  bao-o-aae  in 
wagons  to  Haywood  County  in  Tennessee ;  meeting  with  the  Misses 
Wright  at  Narhota,  and  at  Bohver  in  the  Big  Hatchie,  thence  to  the 
hospitable  log  cabin  of  Mrs.  Swift's  nephew,  Henry  Walker,  who  allowed 
me  the  use  of  a  portion  of  his  people  until  his  father  settled  accounts  with 
his  aunt  Louisa.  I  placed  four  hands  to  felling  a  tulip  tree  seven  feet  in 
diameter,  and  sixty-six  feet  to  the  forks,  yielding  three  cuts  of  twenty  feet 
each.  That  gave  boards  for  a  large  log  cabin  of  one  room  that  served  for 
bedrooms,  library  and  dining  room.  But  as  to  the  land,  I  found  that  I 
could  get  no  secure  title,  nevertheless  planted  corn,  potatoes  and  cotton, 
with  plenty  of  stock  in  the  woods  feeding  on  cane  grass  and  the  sweet 
pea  vine. 

The  course  of  the  season  developed  ill  health  for  my  children,  though 
Mrs.  Swift  and  myself  were  well ;  and  she,  with  good  courage  and  affection, 
encountered  our  privations,  never  dreamed  of  in  earlier  days. 

My  son  James,  then  civil  engineer  of  the  United  States  on  the  Hiwassee, 
came  to  us  leading  a  fine  Pacolet  colt  for  my  riding. 

I  opened  a  correspondence  with  General  Jackson,  at  the  "  Hermitage," 
on  the  improvements  of  the  rivers  of  the  State,  and  explored  the  country  on 
horseback  to  Alabama.  On  my  return  the  ill  health  of  my  children 
determined  me  to  retrace  my  steps,  and  seek  civil  engineering  on  the 
Atlantic. 

In  November,  after  the  crops  were  in,  I  sold  my  movables,  and  with  my 
family  reembarked  at  Randolph,  and  by  New  Orleans  (where  I  met  my 
friend  Russell,  who  furnished  us  with  the  after  cabin  of  the  packet 
"Frances,"  Captain  Ryder,)  we  returned  to  New  York  in  thirty  days  from 
New  Orleans,  arriving  the  last  of  the  year.  Here  we  met  the  intelligence 
of  the  death  of  the  venerable  mother  of  my  wife,  and  of  my  brother-in-law, 
Julius  H.  Walker,  and  of  my  own  sister  Mary,  the  beautiful  wffe  of  Lieu- 
tenant George  W.  Whistler.  Her  remains  were  placed  by  me  alongside 
those  of  my  mother  in  Brooklyn. 

In  my  absence  had  also  died  the  patriot  Rufus  King,  in  1827.  I  sought 
his  and  Mr.  Wolcott's  advice  in  reference  to  my  letter  to  the  Secretary  of 


204  THE  MEMOIRS   OF 

War  adversely  to  the  interpolation  of  General  Bernard  into  the  corj3s  of 
engineers.  That  letter  received  the  hearty  approbation  of  both  Mr.  King 
and  Mr.  VVolcott,  at  Mr.  King's,  in  Jamaica,  Long  Island. 

Four  hundred  and  twenty-five  thousand  dollars  appropriated  for  fortifica- 
tions in  1827. 

182S.  After  a  few  da)'s'  rest  from  a  sea  voyage  with  our  friends  Tucker 
and  March  at  Brooklyn,  in  Januarj',  my  family  was  placed  at  board  with 
Captain  Chapman,  near  my  father's,  in  New  London  ;  my  sons  Tom  and  Jule 
at  the  select  school,  Sally  with  Miss  Allen,  myself  to  New  York,  the  guest 
of  my  friend  S.  L.  Gouverneur,  and  opened  a  correspondence  on  the 
subject  of  civil  engineering  with  various  parts  of  the  Union.  I  returned  to 
New  London  in  March,  and  caused  sfrave-stones  to  be  inscribed  to  the 
memory  of  my  father  and  mother-in-law,  James  and  M.  IVL  Walker,  and 
sent  them  to  our  friend  Dr.  A.  J.  De  Rosset,  Wilmington,  North  Carolina, 
who  saw  them  placed  at  their  respective  graves  in  the  cemetery  of 
St.  James. 

Through  my  brother-in-law  Whistler,  and  my  protege,  W.  G.  McNeill,  1 
was  introduced  to  George  Winchester,  the  president  of  the  Baltimore  and 
Susquehanna  Railroad  Company,  and  was  employed  as  chief  engineer  of  that 
company,  and  soon  located  the  route  of  the  road  to  the  Pennsylvania  line, 
consulting  with  that  eminent  manager,  F.  Thomas,  and  .S.  H.  Long,  also  with 
Whistler  and  McNeill  (all  of  the  United  States  army),  who  were  engineers 
of  the  Baltimore  and  Ohio  railroad.  Mr.  Long  I  had  met  in  Gcrmantown, 
Pennsylvania,  at  Major  Roberdeau's,  and  engaged  him  as  my  extra  aid  in 
the  year  18 14,  and  from  his  merit  placed  him  as  instructor  of  mathematics 
in  the  Military  Academy  at  W(?st  Point  —  a  gentleman  of  large  mechanical 
ingenuity.  In  the  month  of  July,  at  the  instance  of  the  Baltimore  and 
Susquehanna  Company,  I  examined  the  only  railroad  then  existing  in  the 
United  States,  at  Quincy,  Mass.,  via  New  London,  taking  Mrs.  Swift  with 
me  to  sec  our  good  aunt  Lucretia,  of  Boston.  We  proceeded  thence  to 
the  railroad  and  measuretl  all  its  parts  minutely,  thence  we  called  on  my 
cousin  Fanny  .Swift,  on  Milton  Hill,  and  visited  the  graves  of  our  ancestors 
in  the  old  Milton  cemetery. 


GENERAL  JOSEPH  GARDNER  SWIFT.  205 

On  my  return  to  Baltimore  I  rented  the  house  of  Bishop  Eccleston  in  St. 
Paul's  Lane,  and  moved  my  family  thither  in  October,  and  they  were  kindly 
cared  for  by  my  friend  Robert  Barry  in  my  railroad  absences ;  my  son 
Thomas  teaching  his  younger  brothers  and  sisters  at  home.  He  had  been 
well  instructed  by  his  friend  and  uncle,  G.  W.  Whistler. 

Seven  hundred  and  seventeen  thousand  five  hundred  dollars  appropriated 
for  fortifications  in  1828. 

1829.  On  15th  January  died  my  friend  Colonel  Isaac  Roberdeau,  U.S.T.  E. 

In  the  winter  of  this  year  Mr.  Winchester  and  myself  before  the  legisla- 
ture of  Pennsylvania,  to  extend  the  charter  of  the  Baltimore  and  Susque- 
hanna to  the  river;  but  the  cloudy  minds  of  the  legislature  deemed  a  road 
of  much  greater  length,  to  Philadelphia,  more  patriotic  as  State  policy  — 
one  of  the  absurdities  of  the  influence  of  artificial  boundary  lines. 

In  March  with  my  son  Thomas  to  see  President  Jackson  inaugurated,  and 
to  offer  my  services  as  a  civil  engineer  through  my  friend  Charles  Gratiot, 
and  General  Eaton,  the  Secretary  of  War.  The  general  said  "  President 
Jackson  had  confidence  in  my  ability,"  and  so  gave  me  charge  of  the  con- 
struction of  harbors  on  Lake  Ontario.  Mr.  Monroe  had  asked  General 
Jackson  to  reappoint  me  to  the  surveyorship  of  New  York,  but  that  place 
was  claimed  for  party,  in  which  I  had  no  claim.  While  in  Washington  I 
had  prepared  an  essay  on  supplying  the  city  of  New  York  with  water' from 
the  Bronx  and  Croton  Rivers,  and  sent  the  same  to  the  corporation  through 
George  Sullivan,  Esq.,  and  referred  them  to  my  survey  of  the  Bronx  and 
Rye  Ponds  made  in  18 19. 

In  April  I  returned  to  the  Baltimore  and  Susquehanna  railroad,  and  from 
thence  with  my  friend  John  L.  .Smith,  United  States  engineer,  to  Philadel- 
phia, and  gave  Thomas  Sully  sittings  for  a  portrait  for  the  corps  of  engineers 
at  their  request  —  see  files;  thence  to  West  Point,  and  met  my  friend  Major 
Thayer  and  my  son  Alexander  J.  Swift,  a  cadet.  So  on  to  Genessee  River, 
and  we  examined  its  entrance  into  Lake  Ontario.  Major  Smith  proceeded 
to  Ohio  to  select  a  site  for  an  armory,  taking  my  brother-in-law  Whistler  as 
his  assistant,  much  depressed  by  the  loss  of  his  wife  my  beautiful  sister, 
Mary. 


206  THE  MEAfOIRS    OF 

In  May  I  surveyed  Big  Sodus  Bay  also,  and  reported  the  requisite  works 
for  both  harbors  to  the  engineer  department,  and  fixed  my  residence  at 
Geneva  by  the  advice  of  my  friend  Major  Rees  of  that  place.  Returned  to 
Baltimore  and  closed  my  relations  to  and  with  the  Baltimore  and  Susque- 
hanna railroad,  and  removed  my  family  to  Geneva,  arriving  on  6th  June,  and 
taking  lodgingsi  n  Mr.  Hemminway's  hotel,  and  then  a  house  on  the  square, 
belonging  to  Colonel  Bogert,  commencing  with  iron  spoons,  for  we  had 
been  robbed  of  all  our  plate,  and  many  gold  and  silver  remembrances.  My 
father  came  to  visit  us.  My  daughter  Sally  commenced  school  with  Miss 
Jones,  Jose  with  Miss  Stone,  and  Jule  and  McRee  with  Mr.  Davis.  Major 
Rees  had  purchased  the  Clark  farm  of  one  hundred  and  forty  acres  for  me 
of  R.  C.  Nicholas,  who  made  some  difficulty  about  the  title,  but  took  the 
farm  himself.  Explored  the  countr)-  about  Genessee  River  and  Big  Sodus 
Bay  for  timber  and  stone  for  the  harbors,  and  by  the  last  of  June  had  com- 
menced the  work  at  Genessee  River  (Mr.  Wilder  my  assistant  there),  and 
on  4th  of  July  commenced  the  piers  at  Big  Sodus  Bay  (C.  \V.  Rees  my 
assistant  there),  and  with  John  Greig,  Esq.,  Alexander  Duncan  and  Captain 
Wickham  we  celebrated  our  "  independence,"  assisted  by  Edwards  and 
Dr.  Lummis. 

In  August  my  sons  James  and  Alexander  were  with  us  at  Geneva,  and 
my  brother  William  and  his  wife  and  son  Charles,  a  year  old.  My  son 
Thomas  suddenly  ill ;  Dr.  Cutbush  deems  the  danger  to  be  unequal  action 
of  the  heart  and  circulation.  He  died  2d  September,  the  third  day  after 
the  birth  of  a  son  whom,  for  him,  we  named  Thomas. 

In  October  my  son  Williams  returned  from  a  three  years'  cruise  in  the 
Pacific,  in  the  "  Brandywine,"  Commodore  Jacob  Jones.  Willy  reached 
home  with  me  in  November.  I  had  been  summoned  to  the  city  in  a  case 
between  S.  L.  Gouverneur  and  the  Fulton  Bank. 

The  corporation  of  Petersburgh,  Virginia,  invited  me  to  be  their  engineer 
on  a  railroad  there,  but  my  other  prospects  prevented  acceptance;  being  in 
that  month  of  November  in  treaty  with  Martin  Hoffman  of  New  Orleans  to 
become  the  engineer  of  the  Ponchartrain  railroad.  He  had  been  referred 
to  me  by  Whistler  and   McNeill.      On  the  suspension  of  the  Lake  works 


GENERAL  JOSEPH   GARDNER  SWIFT.  2,07 

the  Secretary  of  War  consented  to  my  sojourn  in  New  Orleans  provided  I 
became  responsible  for  the  safe-keeping  of  the  United  States  property  at 
Genessee  and  Sodus. 

On  the  last  of  November  my  son  James,  having  previously  taken  leave  of 
us,  proceeded  with  Dr.  Howard  to  the  Wisconsin  River.  I  left  Geneva  via 
Niagara  Falls,  Erie,  Ohio  and  Mississippi  Rivers  to  New  Orleans,  arriving 
20th  December,  and  soon  explored  a  route  through  a  red  cypress  swamp, 
(sinking  to  my  saddle  girths,  but  had  sand  at  bottom,)  and  gave  the  com- 
pany a  design  for  their  road.  While  they  were  cogitating  it,  and  for  means 
to  execute,  I  was  invited  to  the  legislature  of  Louisiana  to  consult  on  a 
plan  to  improve  a  system  of  leveeing  the  great  river  to  avoid  the  evil  of 
elevating  its  bed,  as  had  been  long  done  on  the  Po,  in  Italy.  Gave  them 
my  ideas  —  see  the  document  in  my  files.  Returned  to  New  Orleans,  and 
made  an  agreement  with  the  railroad  company  to  return  to  New  Orleans  in 
the  following  November  with  mechanics  to  construct  the  road.  This 
occupied  me  the  months  of  January  and  February. 

Seven  hundred  and  sixty-five  thousand  dollars  appropriated  for  fortifi- 
cations in  1829. 

1830.  I  had  much  social  intercourse  in  New  Orleans,  and  very  pleasant 
dinner  parties  at  George  Eustis',  Mr.  Linton's,  Mr.  Henderson's,  Isaac 
Preston's,  etc.,  where  Hon.  H.  Clay,  the  patroon  of  New  York,  and 
some  foreigners  (one  who  interested  me  at  first,  a  lineal  descendant  of 
Montezuma,  a  Spanish  count,  but  was  disappointed  on  close  view,)  were 
present.  The  domestic  life  in  New  Orleans  is  charming  among  the  ladies, 
but  the  young  men  are  sadly  degenerate. 

Leaving  the  railroad  under  the  care  of  Lieutenant  G.  W.  Long,  "on 
leave"  from  the  army,  I  left  New  Orleans,  taking  my  passage  in  the  month 
of  February  in  the  Helen  McGregor.  Accident  detained  me  till  the  next 
boat  and  we  found  the  McGregor  a  wreck  at  Memphis,  and  her  burnt 
passengers  in  the  hospital  there — twenty  killed  and  forty  wounded.  By 
Wheeling  I  arrived  at  Baltimore  on  20th  March,  at  Barnum's,  and  on 
entering  the  reading-room  found  the  death  of  my  first-born  (James) 
recorded.     He  had  been  married  to  Maria  Jephson,  the  charming  grand- 


2o8  THE  MEMOIRS  OF 

daughter  of  my  friend  Captain  Farquhar,  not  three  months;  had  recently 
returned  from  civil  engineer  duty  with  Dr.  William  Howard  on  the  river 
Wisconsin  ;  had  fallen  through  the  ice,  but  kept  at  his  duty,  from  which 
a  cold  settled  on  his  lungs. 

His  brother  Willy  and  his  aunt  jMary  Swift  did  all  they  could,  and  my 
brother  W'illiam  also,  who  was  there  on  duty  in  the  general  post  office. 

I  returned  home  to  the  distressed  mother  at  Geneva  with  my  son  Willy, 
from  his  examination  as  midshipman,  early  in  April.  We  changed  the  name 
of  my  son,  substituting  James  for  Delano. 

During  my  absence  the  War  Department  had  been  furnished  with  accu- 
sations that  more  material  had  been  paid  for  at  Genessee  River  than  had 
been  furnished.  The  department  ordered  Major  Maurice  to  examine  into 
this  accusation.  He  reported  to  the  department  that  he  found  no  truth 
whatever  in  the  accusation.  The  department  ordered  me  to  proceed  with 
the  works;  and  he  also  examined  the  same  subject  at  Sodus  Bay,  and 
reported  the  same  result.  In  June  my  father  came  to  see  us  from  New 
London,  his  military  station  as  surgeon,  and  in  July  Alexander  came  with 
his  widowed  sister,  Maria  Jephson  Swift.  In  August  I  surveyed  Oak 
Orchard  Creek  for  a  harbor  at  its  entrance  into  Lake  Ontario.  At  the 
ensuing  session  of  Congress  the  committee  reported  a  bill  in  favor  of  my 
plan,  and  Congress  appropriated  the  means. 

In  this  month  I  employed  George  Barclay  and  William  Sentell,  and 
carpenters  and  hewers  to  go  with  me  in  November  to  construct  the 
Pontchartrain  railroad. 

I  purchased  this  month  the  residence  of  Christopher  Campbell  and  a 
seven  acre  lot  south  of  the  village,  for  two  thousand  one  hundred  dollars,  and 
moved  into  the  house  on  loth  September,  after  recovering  from  a  bilious 
fever  taken  at  Oak  Orchard,  and  was  probably,  under  Providence,  saved 
from  death  by  the  skill  of  Dr.  Cutbush. 

The  United  States  funds  being  exhausted  on  the  Lake  works,  I  closed 
them  for  the  season  20th  September,  and  then  (leaving  Alexander  with  his 
mother)  Willy  and  I  went  to  West  Point  and  Cold  Spring,  and  to  New  York, 
where,    with    my  workmen,   we    embarked    for    New  Orleans,  and  by  the 


GENERAL  JOSEPH  GARDNER  SWIFT.  209 

"Hole  in  the  Wall"  and  Tortugas,  arrived  at  New  Orleans,  on  ist  Novem- 
ber.     Found  the  city  gloomy  from  yellow  fever. 

This  fall,  Alexander  commenced  his  engineering  at  Oak  Island,  in  Cape 
Fear,  where  I  had  commenced  mine  twenty-six  years  previously.  Alexan- 
der had  commenced  his  first  duty,  after  graduating  at  West  Point,  at  New- 
port, R.  I.,  under  Colonel  Totten,  where  I  had  commenced  my  first  duty 
thirt)'  years  previously. 

Established  my  quarters  at  the  Darcoutel  Convent  and  also  those  of  my 
workmen,  and  commenced  the  construction  of  the  Pontchartrain  Railroad. 
Willy  returned  home  in  December,  my  daughter  Sally  being  with  Mrs. 
Chew  in  Brooklyn,  to  attend  Mr.  Van  Doren's  Seminary  in  that  place.  In 
the  progress  of  the  Ponchartrain  Railroad  I  found  that  dead  shells  formed  a 
good  foundation  and  hard  track.  From  Tangepaho  we  transported  by 
steam  some  millions  of  bushels  across  the  lake  for  sill  foundation  and  horse 
track.  This  success  gave  to  New  Orleans  a  fine,  hard  cover  to  their  streets, 
at  my  suggestion. 

In  the  excavation  of  the  vast  shell  mound  of  Tangepaho  we  met  the 
skeleton  of  a  human  being  of  large  dimensions,  and  by  comparative 
anatomy  our  surgeon  and  myself  measured  the  bones;  they  must  have 
been  of  a  being  at  least  nine  feet  high.  I  boxed  them  for  the  Natural 
Historical  Society  of  New  York.  Red  cypress  from  the  swamp  was  used 
for  cross-sills  and  stringers.  Upon  the  latter  was  laid  the  first  T  rail 
used  in  the  United  States. 

Eight  hundred  and  forty-one  thousand  dollars  for  fortifications  for  the 
year  1830. 

1 83 1.  Early  in  March,  Hon.  Henry  and  Mrs.  Clay,  of  Ashland,  break- 
fasted with  me  at  Darcoutel.  To  amuse  Mrs.  Clay  I  bloomed  the  buds  of 
the  magnolia  G.  F.  by  placing  the  stems  in  claret  bottles  of  hot  water 
on  the  breakfast  table  —  a  process  of  from  twenty  to  thirty  minutes. 

We  gave  our  guests  their  first  ride  on  a  railroad,  using  a  bao-o-ao-e  car 
and  by  aid  of  six  men,  whom  I  had  drilled  for  the  purpose,  with  iron-pointed 
poles,  attained  a  speed  of  ten  miles  the  hour  for  a  couple  of  miles. 

In  April  we  opened  the  road  from  the  Lake  to  the  Mississippi,  with  the 


2IO  THE  MEMOIRS    OF 

governor  of  the  State  and  General  Wade  Hampton  and  other  magnates  for 
guests,  who  gave  due  commendation  to  President  Martin  Hoffman  for  the 
original  design,  and  to  my  master  workmen,  George  Barclay  and  William 
Sentell,  for  the  excellent  workmanship.  The  last  of  April  I  went  to 
Mobile  to  escort  our  niece,  Julia  Osborne,  to  visit  Mrs.  Capt.  Spatts  in  New 
Orleans  —  Julia's  school-mate  at  Mrs.  Clitherall's,  in  Smithville,  North 
Carolina. 

In  the  month  of  May,  designed  a  harbor  for  the  lake  end  of  the  railroad, 
and  after  visiting  the  battle-ground  of  Gen.  Jackson,  Julia  and  myself 
ascended  the  Mississippi  in  the  Convoy,  Capt.  Rudee,  j^assing  the  cut-off 
of  Red  River  Island,  that  had  been  a  peninsula  when  I  was  there  in 
December,  1829.  Delayed  by  breaking  a  shaft  in  straining  through  this 
cut,  arriving  at  Laneville  28th  May;  lost  four  days;  by  Wheeling,  Wells- 
burgh,  Ashtabula,  on  Lake  Erie,  to  Buffalo,  and  arriving  at  home  in  Geneva 
on  8th  June,  finding  all  well,  thanks  to  God.  In  the  past  spring,  my  son 
Willy  had  re-commenced  for  me  the  United  States  harbors  at  Genesee  and 
Sodus,  and  had  also  added  to  my  house  five  rooms. 

Find  my  United  States  affairs  under  good  way  at  the  lakes,  and,  with 
Major  Cook,  took  a  horse-back  view  of  Dr.  William  Campbell's  route  of 
a  canal  from  Cayuga  Lake  to  Sodus  Bay  by  the  Montezuma  Marshes;  con- 
cluded it  would  be  better  to  commence  that  canal  at  Clyde,  and  cut  through 
the  Sandy  Ridge  to  the  north  to  the  Bay. 

Seven  hundred  and  sixteen  thousand  dollars  for  fortifications  for  the  year 
1831. 

In  the  month  of  July  (20th)  Gen.  Simon  Bernard  wrote  me  a  farewell  letter 
on  his  retiring  from  the  service  of  the  United  States,  and  returning  to  that 
of  I'Vance  with  much  knowledge  of  every  means  of  defence  possessed  by 
my  country.  He  acknowledged  my  uniform  courtesy  to  him  personally,  to 
which  I  replied  as  became  my  position,  as  may  be  seen  in  my  files.  The  cor- 
respondence between  the  Secretary  of  War  and  myself  on  the  policy  of 
interpolating  into-  our  engineer  .service  any  foreigner ;  and  see  also  the 
records  of  the  engineer  department  at  Washington,  18 16,  '17,  '18. 

The  last  of  July  my  son  Willy  left,  ordered  to  the  Mediterranean;    my 


GENERAL  JOSEPH  GARDNER  SWIFT.  211 

friend  Thomas  J.  Chew  and  I  to  the  head  of  Seneca  Lake,  he  from  his  visit 
returning  home  to  Brooklyn. 

In  Auo-ust,  at  the  commencement  of  Geneva  College,  the  faculty  and 
board  of  trustees  conferred  on  me  the  professorate  of  "Engineering  and 
Statistics,"  —  an  empty  honor,  as  also  was  the  membership  of  the  Paris 
Society  of  Statistics,  for  which  courtesy  I  returned  my  thanks  to  President 
Moreau,  of  Paris,  through  General  H.  A.  S.  Dearborn,  of  Boston.  See  the 
document  on  file. 

In  September,  by  request  of  John  Greig,  Esq.,  I  explored  a  new  route  for 
a  canal  from  Clyde  to  Sodus  Bay,  with  General  Adams,  Major  Cook  and 
C.  W.  Rees  as  surveyors.  Proceeded  to  New  York  with  my  documents  and 
printed  my  report;  sent  copies  to  many;  October. 

On  23d  October,  at  New  York,  General  Wm.  North  and  myself  and 
many  others,  attended  the  funeral  of  our  friend  Capt.  James  Farquhar,  at 
the  age  of  eighty-nine. 

In  November,  G.  W.  Whistler,  W.  G.  McNeill,  Claude  Crozet  and  myself 
examining  the  Marsh  near  Berg's  Ridge,  N.  J.,  and  the  Trap  Ridge  at 
Hoboken  for  a  tunnel. 

On  my  return  to  Geneva,  at  a  public  meeting  of  the  citizens  in  Novem- 
ber, appointed  several  citizens,  including  myself,  to  lay  before  the  State 
legislature  a  plan  for  a  railroad  from  Ithaca  to  Geneva.  I  explored  a  route 
and  reported  to  the  Secretary  of  State  my  opinion  in  favor  of  the  plan,  but 
it  remained  unacted  upon. 

December,  I  visited  Major  Van  Deventer,  at  Lindwood ;  and  at  Batavia  I 
purchased  of  David  E.  Evans,  Esq.,  a  farm  adjoining  Lindwood  of  two  hun- 
dred and  thirty  acres,  for  two  thousand  five  hundred  dollars.  Before  return- 
ing home,  G.  W.  Whistler  and  Anna  McNeill  were  married  at  her  brother 
William's,  in  Bond  Street,  on  3d  November. 

For  the  want  of  funds,  the  works  of  the  United  States  on  the  lake  harbors 
had  gone  into  some  ruin  from  storms,  —  a  miserable,  short-sighted  policy, 
so  to  commence  and  so  to  neglect  such  works. 

1832.  In  the  month  of  February  I  visited  Colonel  W.  Fitzhugh,  at  Hamp- 
ton, and  read  the  correspondence  between  General  Washington   and  the 


212  THE  MEMOIRS   OF 

Colonel's  father,  Colonel  William  Fitzhugh,  of  Rowsley  Hall,  Maryland,  in 
1777,  '78,  '79,  '80  and  '81,  on  several  subjects,  and  the  Revolution.  My 
daughter-in-law,  that  was  to  be,  consented  to  copy  for  me  all  these  letters, 
which  was  done,  and  they  are  among  my  papers,  and  possess  interest  in 
reference  to  our  financial  policy,  etc.,  in  those  days. 

The  last  of  this  month.  Dr.  Lummis  and  myself  went  to  New  York, 
through  immense  drifts  of  snow,  through  the  Beech  Woods  route  to  Jersey, 
to  explain  to  capitalists  the  objects  of  the  Sodus  Canal  from  Cayuga  to  Lake 
Ontario,  using  the  counting-room  of  my  friend  Peter  Burtsell,  corner  Wall 
and  Broad  Streets,  to  exhibit  the  plans,  etc.  In  the  following  month  of 
March,  to  wit. :  8th,  Lieut.  J.  R.  Sands,  United  States  Navy,  and  myself 
examined  the  route  for  a  canal  to  unite  the  Wallabout  and  Gowanus  Cove, 
New  York  Harbor.  This  idea  had  originated  with  his  father,  Joshua  Sands, 
Esq.  I  commended  the  plan  to  the  board  of  trustees  of  Brooklyn.  In 
March,  resumed  correspondence  with  the  North  Carolina  Railroad  Co.,  of 
Raleigh  and  Beaufort,  through  General  Montfort  Stokes,  to  become  their 
engineer. 

From  the  conflict  of  parties  in  Congress  on  internal  improvements  and 
its  uncertain  results,  I  visited  my  friend  Col.  Totten,  at  Newport,  to  consult 
as  to  my  prospects.  Returning,  visited  my  father  in  New  London,  and 
met  Lyman  Law  and  examined  the  Groton  monument  that  I  had  designed, 
but  it  was  improved  by  my  nephew,  Julius  W.  Adams.  With  Mr.  Law, 
visited  the  grave  of  Uncas,  the  Mohican  Chief.  An  aged  squaw  said  to  us : 
"Take  care  of  the  good  land  you  took  from  my  fathers;    it  is  a  good  land." 

On  my  return  to  New  York  in  April,  the  Harlem  Railroad  Co.  invited  me 
to  accompany  their  board  and  to  examine  the  rock  cuttings  on  the  route  of 
the  Harlem  Railroad,  i.  e.,  4th  Avenue,  which  I  did,  and  gave  the  board  my 
thoughts  thereon,  as  to  expense,  etc. 

I  then  went  to  Washington  to  consult  the  Secretary  of  War  on  the  sub- 
ject of  going  to  North  Carolina  pending  the  action  of  Congress  on  har- 
bors, etc.  He  advised  to  wait  awhile,  and  this  suspended  my  accepting  Mr. 
Mhoon's  invitation  from  North  Carolina. 

In  May,  on  my  way  home,  at  Philadelphia,  met  my  friends,  the  widow  and 


GENERAL  JOSEPH  GARDNER  SWIFT.  213 

daughters  of  Colonel  Roberdeau,  pleasantly  settled  in  their  own  house,  the 
result  of  my  efforts,  with  those  of  Judge  Chase,  of  Washington,  to  reclaim 
from  one  Pierce,  who  had  married  Frances  Blair,  the  sister  of  Mrs.  Rober- 
deau, the  life-rent  leases  inherited  from  their  grandfather.  Dr.  Shippen,  in 
that  city. 

On  arriving  in  New  York,  I  accepted  the  chief-engineership  of  the  Har- 
lem Railroad  at  four  thousand  four  hundred  dollars  per  annum,  and  in  a 
few  days  had  the  whole  line  of  work  under  contract  and  the  rock  blasting 
successfully  going  on. 

In  the  middle  of  June,  G.  W.  Whistler  and  myself  went  to  Little  Falls, 
of  the  Mohawk,  and  devised  a  plan  for  the  town  and  manufactories  of  that 
place  for  the  "  Little  Falls  Co." 

In  July  the  cholera  appeared,  and  in  a  few  days  nearly  depopulated  the 
city,  i.  e.,  drove  the  people  to  the  country.  The  disease  soon  spread  among 
the  workmen  on  the  Harlem  Railroad,  and  the  work  was  accordingly  sus- 
pended. 

Congress,  in  this  July,  appropriated  for  the  lake  harbors  too  late  for  the 
commencement  of  any  important  work.  I,  however,  got  them  under  way, 
and  in  August,  at  Rochester,  was  seized  by  cholera  and  sunk  to  a  collapse. 
My  cousin,  James  Watts,  hastened  to  Geneva  and  brought  my  dear  wife  to 
my  bed-side.  My  escape,  as  the  physicians  said,  was  the  consequence  of 
deep  blood-letting  that  reduced  me  to  an  extreme  debility. 

In  September  I  was  able  to  travel  to  New  York  to  recommence  the 
Harlem  road ;  found  the  rooms  beset  with  pretenders  to  engineering  among 
its  members.  Informed  the  board  that  I  could  not  submit  to  such  super- 
ficial nonsense  and  delay  without  compromiting  the  trust  they  had  reposed 
in  me,  and  resigned  my  ofifice,  and  returned  to  the  lake  harbors,  and  by  the 
end  of  October  the  chill  of  the  season  closed  all  the  lake  works. 

In  December,  to  New  York  in  consultation  with  Mr.  Radcliffe  to  proceed 
to  the  Gulf  of  Mexico  and  explore  a  canal  route  by  the  Atrato  to  the  Paci- 
fic; the  plan  suspended.  Before  leaving  home,  Julia  Osborne  and  A.  M. 
Frink  were  married  at  my  house. 

This  month  of  December,  my  son  Willy  arrived  at  Portsmouth,  N.  H., 


2  14  THE  MEMOIRS   OF 

from  a  cruise  in  the  Mediterranean,  and  my  son  Alexander  arrived  from 
Rhode  Island.  They  came  with  my  daughter  Sally,  who  had  been  on  a 
visit  to  Mrs.  W'm.  Kimble  in  St.  John's  Square ;  leaving  me  in  the  city,  they 
went  to  Geneva  over  the  "Beech  Woods"  route.  In  this  month  an  asso- 
ciation of  twelve  hundred  young  men  in  the  city  appointed  me  their  chief 
to  offer  service  to  General  Jackson,  to  march  in  case  of  any  breach  of  the 
Constitution,  to  sustain  the  laws  under  his  command  —  having  allusion  to 
Southern  nullification,  —  for  which  I  received  the  thanks  of  the  President. 

Six  hundred  and  fifty-four  thousand  dollars  for  fortifications  in  1832. 

1833.  In  consequence  of  the  illness  of  the  wife  of  my  friend,  F.  C. 
Tucker,  I  had  delayed  my  return  home.  On  this  New  Year's  Day,  this 
beloved  lady  died.  The  interment  the  second  day  after  was  in  the  cemetery 
of  St.  Ann's,  among  her  father's  family,  Joshua  Sands,  Esq. 

The  next  day  I  returned  to  Geneva,  passing  by  Newburgh.  The  softness 
of  the  roads  made  my  travel  tedious,  and  I  did  not  reach  Geneva  until  too 
late  to  reach  the  wedding  of  my  son  Willy  and  Belle  at  her  father's,  where 
Mrs.  Swift,  Sally  and  the  boys  had  gone ;  they  soon  after  joined  us  at 
Geneva,  i.  e.,  the  last  of  January.  Soon  after,  placed  Jose  with  Mrs.  Record 
—  in  April  —  and  sent  my  son  Julius  to  my  farm  at  Newstead,  under  the 
auspices  of  Major  and  Mrs.  Van  Deventer,  and  with  some  purpose,  myself, 
to  sell  out  at  Geneva  and  become  a  farmer  in  Erie  County. 

On  1  ith  May  attended  the  funeral,  as  pall  bearer,  of  Geo.  Gallagher,  Esq., 
whose  sudden  death  hati  left  a  large  family  of  children  in  Geneva. 

Congress  had  appropriated  this  year  funds  for  the  harbors,  and  by  the 
end  of  April  had  all  the  lake  works  well  under  way. 

In  May,  Wm.  Bayard  wrote  me  that,  in  examining  the  records  of  mort- 
gages in  the  city,  he  found  one  from  me  to  Henry  Eckford  of  my  estate  on 
7th  Avenue,  and,  on  calling  on  the  assignees  of  the  Life  and  Fire  Insurance 
Company,  found  that  my  debt  thereto  had  not  been  paid  by  Mr.  Eckford,  as 
had  been  declared  at  the  conspiracy  trials.  Now,  I  had  mortp-ao-ed  and 
conveyed  this  property  to  Henry  Eckford  for  the  express  purpose  of  paying 
that  debt.    John  B.  Thorp  wrote  me  to  the  same  purpose.     This  information 


GENERAL  JOSEPH  GARDNER  SWIFT.  215 

determined  me  to  commence  suit  for  the  equitable  decision  of  this  matter, 
and  regain  my  just  rights. 

On  6th  June  I  sent  to  the  editors  of  the  National  Intelligencer  an  obitu- 
ary of  the  late  Colonel  William  McRee,  who  had  died  of  cholera  at  St. 
Louis.      (See  my  files.)     Messrs.  Gales  and  Seaton  inserted  the  same. 

I  was  in  this  month  in  correspondence  with  my  friends,  Rev.  J.  M.  Wain- 
wright  and  John  Delafield,  on  a  plan  for  a  seminary  in  the  city — a  univer- 
sity,—  and  upon  the  comparative  merits  of  modern  systems  of  instruction, 
and  as  to  how  much  of  the  West  Point  usage  could  be  introduced  into  such 
a  university. 

My  father  was  with  us  this  summer,  and  he  visited  Colonel  Fitzhugh  and 
attended  an  ecclesiastical  trial  of  Rev.  Mr.  Croes,  who  was  convicted  but 
deemed  to  be  demented.     I  did  not  like  the  aspect  of  the  bishop's  influence 

in  the  trial. 

In  July,  Colonel  Totten  inspected  the  harbors  of  Lake  Ontario,  on  com- 
plaints of  waste,  injustice  and  an  intimation  that  some  otiicr  engineer  would 
be  acceptable  to  the  public.  Colonel  Totten  reported  that  the  works  were 
properly  constructed  and  at  reasonable  prices,  and  that  there  was  no  just 
cause  of  complaint.  My  farm  at  Newstead  had  been  progressing  with  my 
purchase  of  teams  and  implements,  and  I  began  to  think  of  selling  out  at 
Geneva  and  becoming  an  active  farmer.  My  friend  J.  L.  Smith  dissuaded 
me  from  this.  But  I  purchased  one  hundred  and  twenty  acres  more  land 
of  my  adjoining  neighbor,  John  Russell,  for  one  thousand  three  hundred 
dollars.  I  had  taken  Mrs.  Swift  and  my  son  Jim  Tom  to  see  our  friends 
the  Van  Deventers  this  summer,  and  returned  by  way  of  Hampton  ;  the 
next  month  of  August,  Sally  and  the  Carrols  from  Washington  city ;  and 
Belle  and  Willy  to  Niagara  Falls.  I  left  them  there  and  went  to  Buffalo  to 
consult  with  Mr.  Isaac  Smith,  an  ingenious  gendeman,  on  the  construction 
of  a  lio-ht-house  for  Buffalo,  and  other  piers  to  secure  the  harbor. 

Early  in  September  I  was  in  the  city  with  Willis  Hall  about  my  chancery 
suit  with  the  Eckford  heirs,  and  purchased  the  bonds  of  the  Life  and  Fire 
Company  to  liquidate  my  debt  and  to  make  the  assignees  co-operators  m 


2l6  THE  MEMOIRS   OF 

that  suit.  This  purchase  of  bonds  J.  B.  Thorpe  made  for  three  hundred 
and  fifteen  dollars. 

Returning  to  Geneva  and  to  Rochester  to  explore  a  route  for  a  railroad 
to  Batavia  and  Attica. 

In  October,  died  my  cousin,  William  Roberdeau  Swift,  at  Gen.  Blount's, 
in  Washington,  North  Carolina,  my  last  remaining  male  relation  of  my 
family,  save  my  brother  and  his  son,  and  my  own  sons. 

In  October,  General  Gratiot,  the  chief  engineer,  and  myself  visited  Col. 
Totten  and  my  son  Alexander.  Alexander  and  I,  in  crossing  Narragansett 
Bay,  were  run  down  by  a  sloop,  carrying  away  the  mast,  boom  and  bowsprit 
of  our  ferry-boat,  breaking  the  shafts  of  our  carriage,  and  wounding  our 
horse.  The  sloop  towed  us  to  Newport.  Repaired  and  re-crossed,  and 
went  to  see  my  father  at  New  London. 

In  November  I  returned  to  the  city  of  New  York,  and  Mr.  Gouverneur, 
Mr.  Bibby  and  myself,  the  only  attendants  upon  a  notice  of  removing  the 
remains  of  the  late  President  Monroe  (who  had  died  4th  July  previously),  to 
the  new  cemetery  —  a  negligence  and  indifference  of  the  city,  in  striking 
contrast  to  the  pomj^  and  sycophancy  there  exhibited  in  1817. 

In  this  month  of  November  died  the  daughter  of  Colonel  Isaac  Rober- 
deau, Mary  E.,  and  also  Maria,  the  daughter  of  Gen.  Winfield  Scott.  I  was 
with  them  at  this  sad  scene.  Of  Mary  Roberdeau's  death,  Elizabeth  Morris 
wrote  me  an  impressive  account.  She  was  accomplished  and  amiable,  and 
an  entirely  natural  character,  beloved  generally,  and  by  the  family  of  John 
Quincy  Adams  especially.      (See  my  files.) 

In  my  absence  from  Geneva  was  born  there  my  son  Foster  on  31st  of 
October. 

In  December,  Mr.  Charles  Hoyt,  of  Brooklyn,  proposed  my  return  to 
Brooklyn  as  a  residence,  and  joining  him  in  purchase  of  lots  there.  1 
agreed  to  consider  his  proposal,  and  returned  to  Geneva,  where  the  agree- 
able family  of  R.  A.  Tucker,  formerly  chief  justice  of  Newfoundland,  had 
taken  residence  for  the  winter.  Before  leaving  Brooklyn  I  had,  on  12th 
and  13th  November,  at  4  a.  m.,  observed  a  host  of  meteoric  stars,  covering 


GENERAL  JOSEPH  GARDNER  SWIFT.  217 

the  whole  space  of  air,  and  continuing  a  long  while.  It  was  said  to  be  in 
the  constellation  of  Leo. 

Seven  hundred  and  seventy-seven  thousand  dollars  appropriated  for 
fortifications  in  the  year  1833. 

1S34.  January.  The  Rochester  and  Batavia  Railroad,  not  liking  my 
terms,  employed  another  engineer,  and  had  commenced  that  work  with- 
out preparing  the  sill  foundations.  They  soon  found  their  road  in  swells 
and  vales  and  inequalities  of  surface,  the  result  of  a  bad  economy  to  save 
the  price  of  a  fair  salary  in  order  to  have  safe  advice  to  follow.  A 
comment  of  similar  nature  will  apply  to  many  States,  and  especially  to 
Pennsylvania  —  losing  vast  sums  by  incompetent  engineering. 

I  sent  my  son  McRee  to  Batavia  to  be  prepared  for  college  in  Rev.  Mr. 
Ernst's  seminary. 

At  Lyons,  with  General  Adams,  preparing  a  petition  to  the  legislature  to 
remodel  the  Sodus  Canal  charter,  and  to  induce  a  more  useful  subscription 
and  support  to  that  important  work. 

In  reply  to  a  request  of  Governor  Marcy,  wrote  him  a  plan  for  a  normal 
school  in  each  senatorial  district,  and  gave  a  comparative  view  of  ours  and 
the  Prussian  school  discipline. 

Early  in  February  observed  the  defect  in  vision  in  my  son  Willy's  eye. 
The  doctor  deemed  it  amaurosis,  from  too  much  use  at  sea,  and  prescribed 
the  usual  remedy.  The  course  was  followed  by  debility  and  a  depression  of 
mental  power,  unfitting  him  for  full  sea-naval  service. 

I  observed  in  this  month  of  February  that  the  magnetic  variation  at 
Geneva  was  3°  49'  to  the  West.  In  this  month,  at  Newstead,  planning 
buildings  for  my  farm,  and  in  March  took  a  deed  at  Buffalo  from  Russell  for 
the  one  hundred  and  twenty  acres,  and  at  Batavia  a  deed  from  D.  E.  Evans 
for  the  two  hundred  and  thirty  acres.  To  Black  Rock  to  see  General  Peter 
B.  Porter,  to  consult  about  farming.  In  March,  at  Geneva,  Willy  became 
able  to  do  duty  and  was  ordered  to  the  Brandywine  at  the  navy-yard, 
Brooklyn.  When  on  a  visit  to  Mr.  Thomas  March  he  relapsed,  and  the 
Secretary  of  the  Navy  excused  the   Pacific  cruise,   and,  with  his  brother 


2l8  THE  MEMOIRS    OF 

Alexander,   we   four   returned   to   Geneva,   advising    Colonel   Fitzhugh   of 
Willy's  case  in  April. 

George  W.  Whistler  asks  my  advice  about  accepting  the  direction  of  the 
machine  factor)'  for  steam  at  Lowell.  I  reply,  "accept,  certainly,  as  a  good 
step  to  improving  that  machinery  for  railroads."      He  did  so. 

By  the  end  of  April  I  had  the  harbors  on  Lake  Ontario  under  way, 
though  on  a  limited  scale,  suiting  the  meagre  supply  by  Congress,  and  thus 
much  delay  in  these  works. 

In  May,  Colonel  Fitzhugh  and  Elizabeth  visited  us,  and  he  had  heard 
from  Dr.  Backus  that  Willy's  case  was  a  stroke  of  the  sun  in  the  first  cruise 
of  the  Brandywine  in  the  Pacific,  from  exposure  on  duty  at  the  sea-side, 
watering  the  ship. 

My  family  and  Williamson's  and  Judge  Tucker's  —  twenty  in  all  —  on  a 
jaunt  to  Bluff  Point,  of  Crooked  Lake,  and  to  Jemima  Wilkinson's  farm, 
where  Rachel  Malen — Jemima's  successor  —  was  chief  of  the  fanatical, 
though  inoffensive  society,  save  their  bad  example  of  pretended  spiritual 
rule.  My  son  Alexander  returned  to  duty  at  Rhode  Island  in  May,  and 
Willy  and  Belle  to  Hampton  —  his  health  improving,  though  his  nervous 
system  was  shattered  in  June.  In  July,  my  son  McRee  returned  from 
Batavia  to  enter  Geneva  College.  My  father's  health  failing,  and  my  brother 
William  with  him  at  New  London,  he  wrote  me,  and  I  replied  on  the  most 
important  of  all  subjects,  the  future  life. 

Independence  '  this  year  at  Geneva  was  respectably  celebrated  by  an 
oration,  feast  and  fire-works.     I  presided. 

In  August  I  commenced  a  survey  of  Rochester,  with  Mr.  Stoddard  and 
Mr.  Wallace,  my  surveyors  for  drainage.  At  home,  commenced  a  vestibule 
to  the  front  of  my  house.  In  September,  Mrs.  Swift's  niece,  Mary  Ann 
Walker,  of  North  Carolina,  with  us,  and  a  nice  party  to  Sodus  Bay. 

In  October  I  explained  to  the  Rochester  council  my  system  for  a  double 
drainage  —  the  upper  for  surface  water  and  waste;  the  und<>r  for  sinks  and 
other  offensive  impurities ;  both  to  be  scoured  out  periodically  by  a  glut 
from  a  spring-head  south  of  the  town,  —  the  whole  to  empty  at  the  falls. 


GENERAL  JOSEPH  GARDNER  SWIFT.  219 

They  adopted  my  jilan,  and  then  ruined  it  by  diminishing  the  mains  so  as 
to  prevent  a  man's  passage  to  repair. 

In  November,  recommended  my  friend  Rev.  Adam  Empie,  the  President 
of  Wilham  and  Mary,  in  Virginia,  for  the  presidency  of  Columbia  College, 
South  Carolina.  Escorted  M.  A.  Walker,  on  her  way  to  North  Carolina,  to 
Brooklyn,  and  Jose  to  Mrs.  North's  school  in  New  London,  where  I  saw  for 
the  last  time  our  niece,  Julia  Osborne  Frink,  on  the  eve  of  going  to  Florida 
to  seek  relief. 

The  last  of  November  I  went  to  West  Hills,  on  Long  Island,  with  F.  R. 
Hassler,  my  brother  William,  J.  Ferguson  and  Mr.  Dahlgren,  on  the 
coast  survey,  to  observe  the  great  eclipse,  giving  Mr.  Hassler  a  statement 
of  my  observation  on  the  meteoric  appearance  at  Major  Tucker's,  in  Brook- 
lyn, on  the  morning  of  the  13th  November  in  the  east,  near  the  sign 
Leo.  I  received,  ist  December,  from  James  Prentiss,  an  invitation  to  go 
to  Texas,  as  he  reported,  by  request  of  Governor  Houston,  to  become  a 
member  of  the  executive  cabinet,  but  did  not  acceed.  1  introduced  Mrs. 
O'Sullivan  and  her  son  John,  to  Mr.  Calhoun  and  Mr.  Robbins  of  the  United 
States  Senate,  to  promote  a  claim  for  relief  for  losses  of  her  husband,  who 
was  lost  in  South  America,  on  the  coast  of  Brazil.  William  Bayard  after- 
ward told  me  this  claim  was  unfounded  in  justice.      (See  my  files.) 

Mr.  Charles  Hoyt  renewed  his  offer  to  unite  in  business  in  Brooklyn,  he 
guaranteeing  me  $3,000  a  year  for  three  years.  This  loth  December,  1834, 
I  accepted  the  terms  and  commenced  operations  with  George  Winchester 
to  purchase  Bolton,  and  with  J.  U.  Cole  to  buy  the  flats'  at  Hoboken  with 
Samuel  L.  Gouverneur ;  the  matter  deferred. 

My  co-executor  in  the  estate  of  Rev.  John  Ireland  informed  me  of  the 
sale  of  the  navy-yard  lots  of  Mr.  Ireland  for  eight  thousand  dollars  — 
approved  by  the  heirs  and  also  by  me. 

December  26th,  Captain  Cunningham  gave  me  a  stone  image  from  ruins 
of  a  temple  fifty  miles  up  the  river  above  Tampico,  in  Mexico,  an  Aztec 
God.  I  deposited  the  same  in  the  Historical  Society  of  New  York  by  my 
cousin.  Dr.  Wm.  Swift,  United  States  Navy.  I  wrote  to  Jared  Sparks  of  an 
original  letter  of  Washington's  to  Governor  Dinwiddle,  of  date  3d  June, 


2  20  THE  MEMOIRS    OF 

1754,  just  before  the  death  of  Jumonville,  that  would  go  far  to  explain  the 
unjust  rumor  of  harsh  and  cruel  treatment  by  Washington  —  a  sort  of  gap 
in  the  Washington  biography.  This  letter  I  had  deposited  with  John  Pintard, 
Secretary  of  the  New  York  Historical  Society,  and  it  was  received  by  me 
from  Needier  Robinson  by  the  hands  of  his  son-in-law,  R.  C.  Jennings,  of 
Norfolk,  Va. 

Eight  hundred  and  seventy  thousand  five  hundred  dollars  for  fortifications 
for  the  year  1834. 

1835.  Returned  to  Geneva  in  January  via  New  Milford,  Onego  and 
Ithaca.  Advised  General  Adams  of  George  Winchester's  wish  to  have  the 
Sodus  Company's  authority  to  apply  to  the  Legislatures  of  Pennsylvania  and 
Maryland  to  promote  the  Susquehanna  navigation  to  Cayuga  Lake  and 
Lake  Ontario. 

February  20th,  Sally  and  I  to  Albany,  laying  plan  before  the  Legislature 
to  improve  the  ferries  at  Brooklyn,  in  co-operation  with  Mr.  Charles  Hoyt. 

In  March,  at  the  invitation  of  Colonel  Worth,  examined  the  ordnance 
preparations  at  the  Watervliet  Arsenal  on  prospects  of  war  with  France  — 
liking  to  keep  up  my  regard  for  military  affairs. 

To  Geneva,  and  purchased  the  50-acre  lot  there  of  the  Cook  estate  for 
three  thousand  five  hundred  and  fifty  dollars. 

In  April,  to  Brooklyn  with  Mr.  Hoyt,  and  took  his  house  on  Hicks  and 
Remsen  Streets,  and  my  daughter  Sally  commenced  furnishing  the  same. 

Returned  to  Albany  and  with  Charles  Humphrey  prepared  a  memorial  to 
the  Legislature  on  the  presenting  of  a  sword  to  Colonel  Worth  for  war 
honors  in    1812. 

Returned  to  New  York  and  employed  Richard  Morgan  to  survey  Harlem 
River,  to  further  my  plan  of  a  navy  dock.     (See  files.) 

In  May,  received  orders  and  funds-  from  the  War  Department  U.  S.,  to 
recommence  the  work  of  harbors  at  Genesee  River  and  Sodus  Bay,  and  to 
commence  beacon  lights  at  both  places.  On  my  arrival  at  Geneva,  found 
Willy  packing  my  furniture  for  a  move.  Major  Rees  takes  charge  of  my 
Geneva  property,  and  on  30th  May  shipped  all  things  with  horses  on  a  canal- 
boat  at  the  Brewery,  and  with  my  family  of  ten  by  canal   to  Albany  and 


GENERAL  JOSEPH  GARDNER  SWIFT.  22  1 

a  tow  down  the  river  to  Brooklyn,  and  at  house-keeping  the  6th  June,  my 
wedding  day.  Soon  after  my  wife  and  I  went  to  see  my  sick  father  in  New 
London,  and  Jose  also  sick  at  Dr.  North's.  We  returned  to  Brooklyn  with 
my  brother. 

To  Baltimore  to  examine  the  dredging  at  that  harbor;  to  see  if  the 
machinery  would  suit  the  lake  harbors.  My  son  Willy,  ist  July,  to  Coney 
Island  with  Belle.  In  this  month  of  July  I  agreed  with  the  board  of  Brook- 
lyn to  run  out  and  mark  a  water  front  of  that  city.  The  last  of  the  month 
Willy  with  Dr.  McDonald. 

August  1 8th,  died  at  New  London  my  venerable  father.  I  could  not  be 
there  in  consequence  of  Willy  and  my  son  Foster's  illness.  Colonel  Fitzhugh 
and  Elizabeth  came  to  see  Willy,  and  returned  to  Hampton  with  Belle.  My 
son  Julius  had  gone  to  China  in  the  ship  Sabina.  In  September  my  wife 
and  Foster  and  my  brother  William  went  to  New  London,  where  William 
and  I  qualified  as  our  father's  executors. 

Found  Holmes'  dredging  machine  at  New  London  —  a  simple  and  effi- 
cient structure  —  and  sent  Holmes  to  Sodus  Bay  to  construct  a  machine 
there. 

In  October,  General  Gratiot  and  myself  to  Rochester  to  inspect  the 
works,  of  which  the  Secretary  of  War  gave  me  his  favorable  opinion, 
maugre  the  Democratic  essays  to  supercede  me  in  office. 

September  30th,  had  died  the  friend  of  many  years,  Miss  Charlotte 
Farquhar,  at  Green  Hill,  in  the  city. 

In  October,  revised  my  water  line  at  Brooklyn  and  attended  the  American 
Institute  on  a  committee  of  inspection  of  mechanical  products. 

November  ist,  with  Major  McNeill  and  Mr.  Kirkwood,  examining  the 
route  of  the  Long  Island  Railroad.  My  son  McRee,  bit  with  the  desire  to 
be  a  civil  engineer  rather  than  finish  his  course  at  college,  became  an 
assistant  to  Mr.  Kirkwood.  On  5th  November  the  Brooklyn  board  adopted 
my  water  line  plans. 

November  nth,  at  Utica  as  vice-president  of  a  convention  on  internal 
improvements  and  manufactures;  Samuel  Beardsley,  president.  Adjourned 
to  meet  again,  in  Albany,  in  January. 


222  THE  MEMOIRS   OF 

December  i6th  and  17th,  a  great  fire  in  the  city,  when,  by  request  of  the 
mayor,  I  took  charge  of  blowing  up  buildings  to  arrest  the  fire,  and  suc- 
ceeded in  thus  saving  millions  of  property  without  injury  of  any  adjacent 
buildings,  in  every  instance  lifting  the  structure  so  as  to  fall  into  ruin  in 
itself,  /.  c,  a  fair  "globe  of  compression."  I  was  aided  well  by  James  A. 
Hamilton  and  Charles  King,  Lieut.  John  Nicholas,  United  States  Navy,  and 
Samuel  Swartwont.  For  similar  service  at  Quebec,  an  English  officer  was 
rewarded  with  a  pension  ;  I  was  thanked  by  the  authorities  of  a  city  which 
had  in  18 14  recorded  me  as  her  benefactor. 

No  appropriation  for  fortifications  in  1835. 

1836.  In  January  I  addressed  a  memoir  to  the  government  on  the 
prospects  of  war  and  upon  organizing  a  corps  of  naval  engineers;  and  on 
15th  of  that  month  accepted  the  command  of  a  brigade  of  Sea  Fenci- 
bles,  formed  by  young  men  of  the  city,  and  made  a  contingent  offer  of 
service  to  the  President  of  the  United  States,  and  received  from  the  Secre- 
tary of  War,  Lewis  Cass,  the  President's  thanks.      (See  files.) 

The  last  of  January,  by  Hartford,  Ct.,  to  Albany,  before  a  committee  of 
the  Legislature,  to  explain  the  nature  and  purposes  of  a  water  front  for 
Brooklyn,  based  on  the  least  obstruction  of  the  tide-way.  In  February, 
Belle  joined  her  sister  and  brother  Genet  Smith  coming  from  Hampton,  and 
with  Major  Tucker  and  myself  to  Brooklyn  and  found  Willy  greatly  recovered 
in  health. 

March  7th,  sent  a  memoir  to  the  chief  engineer  on  a  new  organization  of 
our  army  in  reference  to  the  reciprocal  rights  and  duties  of  the  government 
and  the  army,  and  on  promotion  by  seniority  as  the  only  safe  rule — first 
established  by  Charles  V.  of  Spain  and  Germany,  as  his  civil  author,  Azalon, 
lays  it  down  in  his  treatise,  The  Precursor  of  Grotius. 

On  March  12th  I  presented  the  city  of  New  York  a  plan  to  rebuild  the 
burnt  district  with  fire-proof  buildings  only. 

On  March  i6lh,  in  reply  to  a  letter  from  General  Armstrong,  formerly 
Secretary  of  War,  upon  his  comments  on  the  war  of  1812-14,  ^''"■1  subse- 
quently   upon    McRee's   advice    to    Miller   about    the    redoubt   carried    at 


GENERAL  JOSEPH  GARDNER  SWIFT.  223 

Niagara,  with  an  account  of  the  council  of  war  at  Barnhard's,  on  the  St. 
Lawrence,  in  November,  18 17,  that  lost  Montreal. 

On  March  iSth  I  proposed  to  Thomas  Biddle,  of  Philadelphia,  that  the 
United  States  Bank  could  enable  the  Sodus  Canal  to  extend  the  navigation 
of  the  Susquehanna  to  the  lakes,  taking  the  stock  for  its  security. 

On  March  24th,  gave  Mr.  Richmond  a  plan,  on  the  survey  of  McRee, 
for  a  harbor  at  the  entrance  of  Sandy  Creek,  into  Lake  Ontario. 

Corresponded  with  Senator  Livingston  and  others  upon  the  tunneling  of 
the  Hudson  at  Albany  to  facilitate  the  railroading  from  the  east  and  south. 

April,  examined  Stewart's  system  to  "Surmount  F"riction  of  Wheels"  for 
railroad  cars.  The  plan  is  fair,  but  too  nice  to  be  applied  to  the  rough 
machinery  and  imperfect  construction  of  railroads  In  their  several  parallel- 
isms, horizontal  and  vertical. 

On  the  19th  of  April  to  Albany,  where,  on  the  26th,  the  law  was  passed 
by  the  Legislature  amending  the  charter  of  the  Sodus  Canal,  upon  which  Mr. 
Hoyt  agreed  to  furnish  twenty-five  thousand  dollars  and  his  and  my  quota 
on  the  work  and  the  town  lots.  Major  John  L.  Smith,  Alexander  and 
myself,  on  27th  April,  examined  the  major's  farm  of  Sandy  Pinery,  on  the 
road  eight  miles  west  of  Albany. 

On  the  1 6th  of  May  the  lake  harbor  works  were  In  good  progress, 
Holmes'  dredging  machine  making  a  fine  channel  Into  Sodus  Bay  of 
fifteen  feet  of  water. 

The  last  of  May,  at  Mr.  Fellows',  in  Geneva,  examining  White  Springs 
and  Castle  Brook,  to  unite  them  for  water  power  for  the  village,  and  gave 
the  plans  and  estimates  therefor  without  charge  for  professional  services. 

To  Ithaca,  to  consult  Charles  Humphrey  on  the  improvements  south  of 
that  town  to  the  river  Susquehanna;  and  thence,  on  the  loth  June,  he  and 
Mr.  H.  and  myself  to  Brooklyn,  via  Erie  Canal.  At  the  Montezuma  Lock  I 
rescued  a  boy  from  drowning. 

June  23d,  at  Brooklyn  my  Baltimore  friend,  Robert  Barry,  called  on  me 
with  a  request  from  Bishop  England  to  consult  on  a  plan  of  the  Rev.  E.  M. 
Johnson  and  myself  to  remedy  the  vagrancy  of  Irish  children  In  Brooklyn, 
that  had  become  very  annoying,   by  promoting   Roman   Catholic   schools. 


2  24  THE  MEMOIRS   OF 

The  bishop  was  very  earnest  in  his  school  commendation,  and  was  en  rouie 
to  Rome  to  report  to  the  Pope  on  his  Nuncio's  acts  in  benighted  St. 
Domingo. 

July  1st,  reported  to  the  War  Department  the  successful  operation  of 
the  dredging  machine  of  Mr.  Holmes,  of  New  London,  in  deepening  the 
channel  at  Big  Sodus  Bay;  and  also  that,  in  all  other  respects,  the  progress 
of  the  harbors  on  Lake  Ontario  were  very  slow  because  of  the  lack  of 
appropriations. 

On  July  7th,  to  New  York,  and,  with  Major  McNeill,  to  consult  with  Chas. 
H.  Hall  upon  the  progress  of  the  New  York  and  Albany  Railroad  —  the 
major  as  chief  engineer,  Mr.  Allen,  the  surveyor,  as  resident  engineer,  and 
myself  as  consulting  engineer,  by  occasional  visits,  etc. 

July  12,  Belle,  Sally  and  Willy  to  Geneva  and  Hampton;  Mr.  Hoyt  and 
myself  with  them  as  far  as  Canandaigua,  where,  at  Mr.  Grig's  office,  a  meet- 
ing of  the  Sodus  Canal  Association  was  held;  from  whence,  on  the  i6th, 
the  association  proceeded  to  the  town  plot,  at  the  proposed  outlet  of  the 
canal,  and  there  confirmed  the  route  of  the  canal. 

In  reference  to  which,  I  purchased  a  farm  at  Clyde  of  William  S.  De  Zeng, 
who,  failing  in  title  which  he  could  not  execute,  lost  me  two  thousand  five 
hundred  dollars,  which  sum  in  justice  he  is  bound  to  repay  to  me,  I  having 
paid  him  that  amount  in  cash. 

July  19th,  from  the  piers  at  Genesee  river  took  an  open  boat  and  coasted 
to  the  mouth  of  Oak  Orchard  Creek  and  there  made  a  survey  and  planned 
a  United  States  harbor  for  that  outlet,  and  sent  the  same  to  the  War  De- 
partment. 

July  28th,  General  Adams  and  myself  descended  the  Clyde  River  to 
Cayuga  Marshes  and  Lake,  and  slept  at  Colonel  Stanley's  on  the  Marsh 
Island,  to  explore  for  any  improvement  in  our  plan  for  crossing  the  Erie 
Canal  at  Clyde,  under  the  Erie,  and  found  no  better  route. 

August  6th,  at  Geneva,  opened  the  Sodus  Canal  books  for  subscriptions 
to  the  stock.      1  lalf  was  at  once  subscribed. 

August  8lh,  to  Rochester  and  arranged  with  Daniel  Ball  for  my  son 
Julius'  interest  in  llie  Shiawassee  lands  in  Michigan,  ami  mills.     This  essay 


GENERAL  JOSEPH  GARDNER  SWIFT.  225 

was  an  entire  failure  under  the  sanguine  Mr.  Ball,  to  the  loss  on  our  part  of 
one  thousand  dollars,  a  great  part  of  which  was  a  gift  of  Alexander  to  his 
brother  Julius. 

From  Geneva  Sally  and  myself  to  Ithaca,  with  Mr.  and  Mrs.  Charles 
Humphrey;  from  whence  to  Brooklyn,  having  for  a  companion,  Colonel 
John  W.  Livingston,  my  superior  officer  in  Rhode  Island  thirty-six  years 
ago.  At  Ithaca  I  designed  a  plan  for  Alexander  Duncan,  Esq.,  to  dam  the 
Canandaigua  Lake  in  the  outlet  for  mill-seats,  and  sent  it  to  him.  My 
daughter  Charlotte,  with  Mrs.  M.  P.  Lomax,  Newport,  R.  I.,  at  school. 

The  month  of  September,  exploring  Harlem  River  in  reference  to  the 
navy  depot  plan,  and  for  an  outfitting  and  repairing  station,  both  on  the 
Hudson  and  near  Hell  Gate,  by  which  to  render  it  imperative  in  war  that 
our  enemy  should  support  two  blockading  squadrons.  Thus  by  opening 
Harlem  River  by  a  few  yards  of  cutting  into  the  Hudson,  and  by  a  canal 
through  Randall's  Island,  at  Little  Hell  Gate,  maintain  a  choice  of  passage 
to  sea  by  either  Sandy  Hook  or  the  Sound. 

September  17th,  to  Lake  Ontario  and  Lake  Orchard  to  complete  my  plans 
for  a  United  States  harbor  at  that  place.  Thence  to  Rose  Valley  in  Wayne 
Co.  through  the  swamp  to  Clyde,  and  ran  a  line  on  good  ground  for  a 
canal — the  severest  labor  in  the  field  I  ever  experienced,  from  Cayuga 
Marshes  to  Clyde,  with  Major  Cook,  a  very  capital  surveyor,  and  Mr.  C.  W. 
Rees. 

By  the  last  of  October  returned  to  my  family  in  Brooklyn,  and  re-com- 
menced the  Hell  Gate  survey,  and  Barn  Island  —  a  strong  position  for 
every  species  of  magazines  and  for  defence  against  an  enemy,  and  especially 
in  case  of  mobs  in  the  city  of  New  York. 

In  November,  George  W.  Whistler  came  to  consult  on  improvements, 
and  he  returned  to  Lowell,  Mass.,  taking  my  daughter  to  visit  Anna. 

In  December,  at  a  meeting  at  Mr.  Wm.  Bard's,  presented  a  plan  of  Chas. 
Butler,  Esq.,  as  head  of  the  American  Land  Company,  to  establish  a  town 
at  the  outlet  of  Lake  Huron,  and  a  canal  from  Black  Creek  to  that  lake,  and 
sent  William  Hopkins  to  make  the  surveys,  while  I  should  visit  the 
Governor    of  Canada  to  consult  with  him  on   establishing  a  railroad  from 


226  ■  THE  MEMOIRS   OF 

Toronto  to  the  proposed  site  for  a  town,  and  in  reference  to  other  Lake 
Ontario  harbors,  etc. 

December  20th,  received  from  Colonel  Justus  Post  one  thousand  one 
hundred  and  eighty-four  dollars,  as  my  share  on  sales  of  some  lands  on 
Coal  River,  in  which  he  had  interested  F".  R.  Hassler  and  myself.  At  a 
meeting  last  December  of  the  Sodus  Canal  Company,  at  Clyde,  the  plan  of 
crossing  under  the  Erie  Canal  there  was  discussed,  and  thus  to  make  our 
first  lock  at  the  town  plot  at  Sodus  Bay.  Sodus  is  an  Indian  word  of  the 
Seneca  dialect,  and  signifies  a  creek  with  a  wide  mouth  —  very  graphic  of 
Sodus  Bay. 

One  million  seven  hundred  and  seventy  thousand  dollars  for  fortifications 
for  1836. 

1837.  Between  the  ist  and  15th  of  January,  the  canal  commissioners  at 
Albany  debated  the  subject  of  crossing  the  Erie  Canal  by  the  Sodus  Canal, 
and  on  the  15th  made  decision  in  favor  of  crossing  under  the  canal  at  Clyde. 

Immediately  wrote  instructions  to  Major  Cook  and  Mr.  C.  W.  Rees  to 
bore  deep  in  the  north  side  of  the  Erie  at  Clyde,  to  determine  the  nature 
of  the  bed  on  which  to  construct  the  culvert. 

1 8th.  Met  Fennimore  Cooper,  and  we  jaunted  to  Stockbridge,  in 
Massachusetts,  thence  through  New  Haven  to  the  city  of  New  York,  as 
our  easiest  route  thither  from  Albany. 

20th.  With  Commodore  Ridgely,  United  States  Navy,  upon  a  process  to 
lay  before  the  Navy  Department  the  claims  of  Captain  Samuel  Augus  to  a 
pension,  he  having  been  stricken  from  the  navy  list  by  President  Adams. 
Query  :  the  constitutional  power  of  the  President  to  dismiss  any  commis- 
sioned officer  whose  dismission  is  not  provided  for  by  law   in  such  way. 

26th.  Sent  my  declination  as  engineer  to  the  Pensacola  Railroad 
Company,  by  reason  of  engagements  with  the  Sodus  Canal  Company,  and 
reported  the  .same  to  President  Greig. 

In  February  the  speculations  in  city  lots  of  Brooklyn  by  others  than 
Charles  Hoyt  convinced  me  that  he;  could  not  fulfill  his  engagements  with 
me,  ami  on  his  agreeing  to  pay  me  the  balance  then  due  me  of  two  thousand 
dollars  when  in  his  power,  I  concluded  to  remove  my  family  to  Geneva.     In 


GENERAL  JOSEPH   GARDNER  SWIFT.  227 

this  month  we  had  the  first  information  of  a  lung  attack  on  my  brother 
William's  wife,  and  as  he  was  deeply  engaged  on  duty,  I  offered  to  escort 
Mary  to  the  mild  air  of  Florida,  but  it  was  not  agreeable  to  her  to  leave 
home. 

March  7th  I  was  called  to  Washington  to  consult  on  the  progress  of  the 
work  on  lake  harbors.  Met  there  the  minister  from  Texas,  Newman  Hunt, 
at  a  dinner  party  given  by  him  to  John  C.  Calhoun,  William  C.  Preston, 
General  Gaines,  etc.,  including  myself.  The  topic  was  the  adoption  of 
Texas  into  the  Union  as  a  State. 

The  inauguration  of  Mr.  Van  Buren  had  been  attended  by  Mr.  John 
Greig,  Alexander  Duncan,  Chas.  A.  Williamson  and  myself,  and  William  G. 
McNeill.  We  had  a  very  pleasant  club  at  O'Neil's.  On  our  return  we 
examined  the  inclined  plane  of  the  Morris  Canal  at  Newark,  having  reference 
to  its  probable  use  on  the  Sodus  Canal,  which  had  now  begun  to  lag  from 
want  of  funds,  the  speculations  in  land  having  exhausted  large  capitals  and 
made  money  very  scarce. 

The  harbor  work  under  way  on  the  lakes  early  in  April,  on  the  28th  of 
which  month  I  placed  my  family  and  furniture  on  board  a  canal  boat  at 
Brooklyn  and  thence  towed  by  steam  to  Albany,  meeting  an  accident  at 
the  overslaugh  that  had  nearly  sunk  our  boat  in  the  night.  We  escaped 
narrowly,  and  on  May  ist  entered  the  Erie  Canal,  and  on  6th  arrived  at 
the  foot  of  the  road  near  my  house  at  Geneva,  on  the  lake  shore. 

On  May  23d  summoned  to  the  circuit  court  at  Lyons  to  testify  profession- 
ally to  the  influence  and  effects  of  the  Clyde  mill-dam,  nine  miles  below,  in 
producing  what  is  vulgarly  called  "  piling  of  water"  —  i.  c,  the  surface  of 
the  water  above  the  dam  becomes  a  curve  of  large  radius,  and  so  elevates 
the  water  far  up  the  stream.  My  experiment  to  satisfy  the  jury  had  been, 
by  taking  away  the  slash  boards  from  the  Clyde  dam  after  the  water  had  run 
out.  I  placed  graduated  stakes  at  several  points  on  the  margin  of  the  river, 
and  then  replacing  the  slash  boards,  noted  the  surface  of  the  water  on  the 
stakes  after  the  pond  had  filled,  which  marks  on  the  stakes  indicated 
ordinates  in  the  canal  of  the  back  water,  etc.  The  jury,  on  the  exhibition 
of  my   diagram,  gave   verdict  against   the  owners   of  the  dam   for  surplus 


2  28  THE  MEMOIRS   OF 

overflovvage  up  the  river  to  a  point  near  Lyons  —  i.  e.,  a  line  of  eight  miles. 

In  June  the  United  States  War  Department  determined  that  officers  of 
engineers  should  superintend  the  construction  of  harbors  when  they  were 
not  on  military  duty  —  a  ven,'  proper  decision  —  under  which  the  harbors  of 
Lake  Ontario  were  placed  under  Lieutenant  \V.  D.  Smith  (Fraser).  Retain- 
ing my  agency  at  Big  Sodus  Bay  until  other  officers  could  be  spared.  The 
dredging  at  Sodus  had  opened  a  channel  of  fifteen  feet,  where,  in  1829, 
there  had  been  only  eight  feet  of  water. 

Independence  was  celebrated  at  Sodus  this  year  by  the  canal  company  in 
the  Shaker  building,  the  town  plot  for  the  new  city. 

July  19th,  wrote  Gerrit  Smith,  Esq.,  my  plan  for  the  abolition  of  slavery: 
1st,  to  obtain  the  consent  of  the  slave  States  to  sell  all  the  children  born  of 
slaves  at  birth,  and  so  to  be  born  free;  2d,  Congress  to  make  a  sinking 
fund  by  consent  of  three-fourths  of  the  States  of  five  million  dollars  a  year, 
which  would  buy  all  the  children  of  slaves,  born  in  one  year ;  3d,  to 
colonize  these  children  when  from  ten  to  twelve  years  old,  under  the 
auspices  of  emancipated  competent  blacks,  west  of  the  Rocky  Mountains. 

Aug.  4th.  To  my  farm  at  Newstead  to  save  what  the  shark  Shipherd  had 
left.  Van  Deventer  having  made  him  our  common  tenant.  I  found  no  crop, 
and  took  away  my  horses  and  wagon  and  a  harrow,  all  that  was  left  of  many 
things.  Met  Alanson  Palmer  at  the  farm,  to  whom  Van  Deventer  in  his  ill 
state  of  health  had  sold  his  farm  —  a  sharper — made  some  settlement  with 
him  in  Van's  name,  and  advised  to  retain  the  land  and  avoid  Palmer. 

In  September  to  Eighteen  Mile  Creek,  below  Lockport,  on  Lake  Ontario, 
by  order  of  War  Department,  to  project  a  harbor  for  that  place,  which  was 
done,  and  the  plan  sanctioned  by  the  Government. 

Thence  to  Niagara  and  Toronto,  to  confer  with  Governor  Sir  Prancis 
Head  upon  a  plan  of  the  American  Company  and  the  Sodus  Canal  Company 
to  establish  a  railroad  from  the  West  end  of  Lake  Ontario  to  Sarnia, 
opposite  Fort  Gratiot,  at  the  outlet  of  Lake  Huron,  and  from  thence  west 
to  the  mouth  of  Grand  River  at  Lake  Michigan.  The  Governor  agreed  to 
promote  the  operation  by  his  influence  in  Canada.  On  my  return  at 
Buffalo  in  company  with    Henry    McLean,  the  cousin  of  Mrs.  Swift,  who 


GENERAL  JOSEPH  GARDNER  SWIFT.  229 

introduced  me  to  Mr.  Bates,  sold  him  my  farm  at  Newstead  for  eight  thou- 
sand dollars,  under  mortgage,  but  he  failed  to  make  payment. 

October  8th.  From  Geneva  to  Sodus,  and  found  the  isthmus  that  unites 
Point  Charles  to  the  main  land  nearly  cut  through  by  storms.  Closed  up 
the  breach  with  cribs  of  stone. 

At  the  request  of  Major  McNeill  I  went  to  Alleghany  County,  taking 
Louisa  and  Foster  to  Hampton  with  my  gray  horses,  and,  leaving  them 
there,  went  to  Angelica  to  examine  the  Alleghany  County  records,  and 
found  them  very  imperfect  and  much  e.xposed  to  fire.  Thence  to  Captain 
Philip  S.  Church,  Belvidere,  from  whence  I  wrote  McNeill  advice  how  to 
proceed  to  save  his  pine  lands,  and  also  to  Samuel  Glover,  his  attorney,  to 
prevent  attempted  frauds  through  the  records. 

Early  in  November,  Henry  Dwight,  Esq.,  and  myself  to  Albany,  and 
there  met  the  obituary  of  my  brother  William's  wife,  from  rapid  consumption. 
She  was  a  fine  woman,  the  daughter  of  James  Stewart  of  New  London,  the 
British  Consul,  leaving  my  brother  with  a  son  and  daughter  at  the  very  age 
when  they  most  required  a  mother's  care. 

From  Albany  to  the  Waverly  in  New  York,  and  there  delivered  the  books 
of  the  Tioga  Coal  Company  to  John  B.  Thorp,  having  received  them  from 
Joseph  Fellows,  Esq.,  at  Geneva. 

December  ist,  visited  Major  John  L.  Smith  at  Governor's  Island,  and 
met  there  General  Scott,  Colonel  Thayer,  Delafield,  McNeill  and  Whistler, 
and  my  brother  William.  Thence  William  and  I  went  to  Hempstead  Harbor 
to  see  F.  R.  Hassler,  who  was  in  trouble  from  the  calls  of  the  Secretary  of 
the  United  States  Treasury  to  vary  his  plan  of  conducting  the  coast  survey, 
greatly  retarding  the  progress  of  that  work,  and  gave  my  advice  to  Hassler 
to  remain  quiet  and  not  write  long  letters  to  the  Secretary,  who  probably 
did  not  comprehend  Mr.  Hassler's  scientific  mode  of  conducting  the  work. 

December  19th,  by  appointment  made  at  Governor's  Island,  G.  W. 
Whistler  and  myself  proceeded  to  Stonington  to  meet  the  Stonington  & 
Providence  Railroad  Company  on  plans  for  improvement  thereof,  and  the 
next  day  to  Providence  with  the  company  and  others  to  remedy  the  causes 
of  delay.     The  following  day  the  company  returned  to  Stonington,  and  on 


230  THE  MEMOIRS   OF 

our  way  cut  off  the  head  of  a  horse  by  the  force  of  the  locomotive  as  the 
horse  was  standing  at  night  with  his  head  over  the  rail.  On  my  return  to 
New  York,  stopped  at  Fort  Schuyler  to  examine  that  place  with  Major  J.  L. 
Smith,  and  met  here  William  Cutbush,  formerly  Captain  of  United  States 
engineers,  and  employed  as  surveyor. 

No  appropriation  for  forts  this  year. 

1838.  January  20th.  Delayed  at  Brooklyn  by  the  common  council, 
who  thought  my  charge  for  making  a  water  front  to  their  cit)'  too  high.  My 
demand  was  eighteen  hundred  dollars,  including  my  visits  to  Albany  to 
explain  the  matter  to  the  legislative  committee.  The  common  council  sent 
me  a  check  for  twelve  hundred  dollars,  and  remained  in  my  debt  six  hundred 
dollars. 

On  January  22d,  to  Harlem  with  Major  McNeill  and  Philemon  Dickinson, 
Esq.,  of  New  Jersey,  and  with  Charles  H.  Hall  it  was  agreed  that  to  pro- 
mote the  navy  dock  I  should  draw  up  a  report  on  the  project  of  the 
Hudson  and  Harlem  River  and  Little  Hell  Gate  for  docks,  yards,  etc.  Took 
my  quarters  at  the  Astor  House,  and  finished  the  report.  It  was  laid  before 
the  common  council  of  the  city,  and  produced  the  adoption  of  the  High 
Bridge  of  the  Croton  acqueduct  to  permit  the  passage  of  ships-of-the-line, 
etc.     (See  files.) 

On  February  3d,  a  meeting  of  American  Land  Company  at  William 
Bard's.  I  gave  them  an  account  of  my  sojourn  at  Toronto  and  interview 
with  Governor  Head,  together  with  my  plan  for  a  harbor  at  the  Gratiot 
outlet  of  Huron,  which  they  adopted,  to  wit:  Messrs.  Bard,  McBride,  Beers, 
Willet,  Charles  Butler,  and  Arnault ;  R.  K.  Delafield,  Secretary. 

The  next  day,  by  aid  of  Mr.  O'Connor,  succeeded  in  settling  the  affairs 
between  the  daughters  of  my  late  friend,  Peter  Birdsell,  and  their  brother 
John,  by  which  the  girls  have  the  income  of  rent  at  the  old  stand,  corner  of 
Wall  and  Broad  Streets. 

Febuary  7th.  Reported  to  the  United  States  Navy  Commissioner  and  to 
the  United  .States  Chief  Engineer  my  views  of  the  importance  of  the  Barn 
Island  and  Little  Hell  Gate  passage,  and  Harlem  ami  Hudson  River  sites 
for  United  States  navy  docks  and  yards,  and  its  offering  space  and  security 


GENERAL  JOSEPH  GARDNER  SWIFT.  23 1 

and  two  passages  to  the  ocean,  thereby  obliging  an  enemy  to  use  two  guns 
to  our  one  by  the  necessary  blockade  off  the  Hook  and  Montauk,  our  two 
passages  to  sea. 

February  17th.  With  General  Scott  and  Charles  King,  Esquire,  at  the 
Astor,  consulting  on  the  necessity  of  the  general's  speedy  movement  in 
return  to  the  frontier  to  check  the  secret  movements  of  the  sympathizing 
traitors.  The  general  departed  that  evening  with  Captain  Keys.  Quite  a 
scene  between  the  captain's  wife.  Colonel  Monroe  and  myself  on  the  lady's 
objections  against  her  husband's  duty. 

February  19th.  At  John  L.  Graham's  with  Long  Island  Railroad  Company 
to  treat  about  my  taking  charge  of  that  road.     The  meeting  adjourned,  etc. 

February  23d.  The  exchange  of  lands  between  Dr.  Fitzhugh  and  the 
Shakers  of  Sodus  delayed  by  the  difficulty  in  raising  funds.  John  Greig 
and  Charles  Hoyt,  Esq.,  at  my  room  at  the  Astor  to  devise  security  to  Dr. 
Fitzhugh.  A  meeting  of  the  Sodus  Canal  Company  called  for  early  in 
March.  The  cold  very  intense  on  the  24th,  when  Mr.  Greig  and  I  took 
stage  for  Albany,  Major  John  L.  Smith  meeting  us  with  a  noble  pair  of 
blankets,  his  present  to  Mrs.  Swift,  that  made  us  comfortable  all  the  way 

home. 

On  March  ist  citizens  of  Geneva  appoint  General  Whiting,  myself  and 
others  a  committee  to  locate  the  proper  entrance  of  the  Rochester  & 
Auburn  Railroad  into  our  village. 

March  8th  to  Canandaigua  at  the  meeting  of  the  Sodus  Canal  Company  at 
President  Greig's.  "The  pecuniary  difficulties  of  the  times"  suspend  the 
whole  work,  a  severe  blow  to  my  prospects;  but  shall  make  further  essays  to 
revive  the  work. 

In  April  summoned  to  New  York  to  testify  on  the  subject  of  my  blowing 
up  houses  with  gunpowder  in  the  great  fire  of  December,  1835.  The 
owners  succeed  in  recovering  from  the  city  in  whose  cause  the  blasting  was 
done. 

Last  of  April  my  brother  William  and  myself  to  see  the  first  of  the  great 
steamers,  the  Western,  Captain  Judkins,  a  grand  movement  to  promote  the 
intercourse  and  the  peace  of  nations. 


232  THE  MEAIOIRS  OF 

May  1st.  The  agents  of  the  Illinois  Canal  called  on  me,  McLaren  and 
Hardy,  on  the  subject  of  connecting  a  railroad  therewith,  and  we  visit  the 
Long  Island  Railroad  to  show  them  the  process,  etc.  They  propose  to  me 
to  unite  with  them.  I  deemed  it  something  of  an  interference  with  my 
brother's  affairs,  and  had  no  more  to  say  to  the  gentlemen. 

On  May  3d  I  was  with  General  Waddy  Thompson,  who,  as  a  friend  of 
John  C.  Calhoun  invited  me  to  write  to  Mr.  Calhoun  on  the  subject  of 
nullification.  As  an  intimate  friend  I  did  so,  embracing  my  views  of  the 
whole  subject,  and  urged  on  him  the  setding  the  matter,  as  I  deemed  him 
to  hold  great  influence  with  the  North.  But  Mr.  Calhoun  had  gone  too  far 
to  attempt  such  a  purpose.  With  his  great  mind  he  could  have  done  much, 
and  no  doubt  did  assuage  the  violence  of  his  compeers. 

This  spring  I  continued  the  small  work  doing  at  Sodus  Bay  Harbor,  and 
finished  repairing  the  breach  in  the  Isthmus  of  Point  Charles. 

On  August  i5tli  Captain  Samuel  Swift,  my  cousin,  of  Geneva,  and  family, 
moved  to  the  vicinity  of  Princeton,  Bureau  County,  Illinois,  to  a  farm  he 
had  there  purchased,  and  left  his  Geneva  property  in  the  care  of  James  H. 
Woods,  Esq. 

On  the  1 8th  my  son  Alexander  made  us  a  few  weeks'  visit  from  Cape 
Fear,  North  Carolina.  This  fall  great  confusion  upon  our  frontier  among 
the  sympathizers  on  both  sides  of  the  line  of  boundary. 

General  Adams  trying  to  keep  alive  the  Sodus  Canal  by  a  current  of 
water  washing  out  the  sandy  loam  from  the  Clyde  north  to  the  head  of 
Sodus  Bay.  He  is  an  indefatigably  industrious  man,  and  will  accomplish  as 
much  as  he  has  means  to  use  therefor.  I  went  to  look  at  the  successful 
essay  in  the  month  of  October,  and  on  my  return  on  November  ist  to 
Geneva,  I  found  Major  John  L.  Smith,  United  States  Engineer,  at  my 
house,  with  instructions  from  Secretary  of  War,  Mr.  Poinsett,  for  the  major 
and  myself  to  examine  the  condition  of  the  people  in  the  country  on  the 
shores  of  Lakes  Ontario  and  Erie,  in  reference  to  secret  operations  of 
"Sympathizers"  and  the  like,  to  disturb  our  relations  with  Canada.  At 
Buffalo  we  conferred  with  Colonels  Bankhead  and  Crane,  United  States 
Army,    and    thence    to    Erie,    in    Pennsylvania,    and    Cleveland,    in    Ohio. 


GENERAL  JOSEPH   GARDNER  SWIFT.  233 

Detected  several  plans  that  were  urged  on  by  misguided  men,  and  by  the 
close  of  November  returned  to  Geneva,  and  the  major  made  his  report  to 
the  Government,  of  a  confidential  nature  of  course. 

One  million  eleven  thousand  dollars  for  forts  in  1838. 

1839.  In  January  Captain  W.  D.  Smith  (Fraser)  by  order  of  the  War 
Department  commenced  to  examine  into  the  disbursements  upon  the 
United  States  Harbor  at  Big  Sodus  Bay,  from  the  commencement  of  the 
work  in  1829  to  the  close  of  1838,  under  secret  charges  from  William 
Edwards,  one  of  the  contractors,  of  fraud  and  waste.  This  occupied 
Captain  Smith  eight  days  from  January  15th,  and  on  the  23d  he  left  for  other 
duty.  A  copy  of  his  report  was  sent  to  me  by  order  of  the  Secretary  of 
War.  The  report  states  that  not  a  single  fact  sustained  any  charges  —  that 
they  were  totally  unfounded.  There  has  been  for  these  ten  years  a  series 
of  essays  to  oust  me  from  office  by  good  Democrats  of  Wayne  and  Monroe 
Counties. 

The  last  of  January  to  Albany  with  General  Adams  to  call  on  Governor 
Seward  on  the  subject  of  State  improvements,  and  especially  the  revival  of 
the  Sodus  Canal,  which  the  governor  approved,  and  said  he  would  further 
its  progress  as  chief  magistrate.  A  meeting  of  stockholders  was  called  at 
Brooklyn,  at  Mr.  Hoj't's,  March  9th,  when  it  was  agreed  that  I  should  go  to 
Philadelphia  to  consult  with  Thomas  Biddle  and  Mr.  Dunlap,  of  the  United 
States  Bank,  which  I  accordingly  did  on  March  27th,  and  left  my  explana- 
tion with  them,  after  a  thorough  conversation,  while  I  should  be  absent  in 
Washington.  When  the  Secretary  of  War  expressed  his  satisfaction  with 
Captain  Smith's  examination  into  the  Sodus  Bay  expenditures,  the  Secretary 
mformed  me  it  had  been  determined  to  give  me  the  general  supervision  of 
the  harbor,  and  on  Lake  Ontario,  and  so  far  modify  the  order  to  employ 
only  the  engineer  officers;  accordingly  on  April  4th  Colonel  Abert,  topo- 
graphical engineer,  appointed  Captain  Canfield  to  aid  me  in  an  inspection 
of  all  the  harbors  on  Lake  Ontario. 

April  5th  Colonel  Abert  and  myself  to  see  an  old  friend,  Phineas  Lacy, 
at  Alexandria.  I  ride  out  to  see  Bruce  Walker  at  the  theological  seminary, 
and  in  Alexandria  my  cousin  Mary  Harper  Swift,  Mrs.  Summers  — Sophia 


234  '  THE  MEMOIRS   OF 

Potts   that   was  —  mj-  early   friend  in  Alexandria  thirty  odd  years  ago,  at 
Netty  Hall,  etc. 

April  9th  President  Van  Buren  entertains  the  pacificator.  General 
Scott,  in  allusion  to  his  services  in  nullifying  days  in  South  Carolina, 
border  troubles  at  Navy  Island,  Niagara,  and  with  Sir  John  Harvey  in 
Maine.  The  party  consisted  of  the  heads  of  departments,  foreign  ambassa- 
dors, and  three  of  Scott's  friends — Generals  Towson,  Gibson  and  myself. 
On  the  loth  the  general  and  myself  to  Philadelphia,  at  Nicholas  Biddle's, 
etc.  I  met  Thomas  Biddle,  who  informs  me  the  United  States  Bank 
cannot  co-operate  with  the  Sodus  Canal  Company  on  the  subject  deputed 
to  me.  To  New  York,  and  on  April  15th  with  Belle,  Willy  and  Louisa 
march  to  Geneva.  On  the  28th  to  a  Sodus  meeting  at  Mr.  Greig's, 
Canandaigua,  and  report  the  failure  of  negotiations  with  the  United 
States  Bank. 

May  2d.  At  Rochester  piers,  and  by  steam  to  Oswego,  and  meet 
Captain  Canfield,  and  commence  our  inspection,  as  a  board,  of  all  the 
harbors  of  Lake  Ontario,  and  on  the  nth  I  return  to  Geneva  and  send 
instructions  to  the  agent,  Judson,  at  Oswego,  to  commence  the  permanent 
piers  there  with  Beton,  and  to  Mr.  Peters  at  Mexico  Bay,  Salmon  River,  to 
go  on  with  the  piers,  and  the  same  to  Mr.  Rees  at  Genesee  River. 

July  4th.  Celebrate  the  day  at  Geneva.  Hon.  Gideon  Lee  recently 
settled  among  us,  with  his  excellent  wife.     He  presides  on  that  day. 

On  the  20th  our  friends  the  Marchs,  of  Brooklyn,  come  to  see  us,  and 
we  take  my  grays  to  Hampton  and  the  Wadsworth's,  Miss  Elizabeth  the 
heroine  of  the  valley.     We  get  back  to  Geneva  on  August  ist. 

On  August  13th  Colonel  Abert  arrives  at  Geneva,  and  invites  me  to  a 
survey  of  both  lakes  with  him.  The  next  day  we  proceed  to  Oswego,  and 
by  steamer  to  Buffalo,  and  thence  to  Erie,  Pennsylvania,  and  return  from 
inspection  of  Presque  Isle  to  Buffalo,  and  meet  the  Secretary  of  War  and 
Mr.  Gouverneur  Kemble,  at  the  Falls,  and  so  on  to  Geneva,  the  colonel  being 
suddenly  summoned  to  Washington  on  jniblic  affairs.  On  the  26th  to 
Clyde  to  see  General  Adams  about  his  scouring  process  on  the  Sodus  Canal, 
and  thence  by  canal   to  .Syracuse  and  Oswego,  from  whence  on  the  28th 


GENERAL  JOSEPH  GARDNER  SWIFT.  235 

Colonel  Worth  and  myself  to  Sacketts  Harbor,  and  explored  our  scenes 
there  of  181 3,  and  awaited  the  arrival  of  President  Van  Buren  and  Secretary 
Poinsett,  on  29th,  and  proceed  to  review  and  inspection  of  the  troops  ;  and 
thence  to  the  mouth  of  Black  River  and  Brownsville,  and  dined  with  Mrs. 
General  Brown  and  Major  Kirby,  and  on  to  VVatertown,  where  Mr.  Fairbanks 
gave  the  President  an  account  of  his  extorting  a  large  amount  of  money  from 
Paymaster  Edmonson,  by  threats  of  drowning  him  in  the  lake.  The  money 
was  concealed  in  a  bed,  and,  on  ripping  up  the  same,  Mrs.  Edmonson  com- 
mitted suicide. 

August  30th,  to  Oswego,  where  the  President  in  his  address,  reprimanded 
his  political  friends  who  had  been  sympathizers,  a  severe  and  deserved  and 
well  administered  castieation. 

On  31st  President  inspected  the  new  Beton  Harbor  work,  and  Mr.  Poin- 
sett pronounced  it  good,  etc. 

On  September  ist  I  went  to  Sodus  Bay  with  Smith,  Van  Buren  to 
Alexander  Duncan,  a  farmer  living  on  the  Shaker  tract.  Mr.  Van  Buren  and 
Poinsett  went  direct  to  Genesee  River,  where  the  Secretary,  with  Captain 
Loud  of  United  States  Artillery,  inspected  the  decaying  wood  work  of  the 
piers,  and  saw  the  effect  of  the  negligence  of  Congress  in  delay  of  appro- 
priations. The  President  then  went  to  Geneva  to  have  a  few  quiet  days 
with  his  early  friend.  Judge  Sutherland,  and  to  see  William  K.  Strono-'s  fine 
farm,  the  old  Robin  Rose  farm  on  the  lake  shore,  and  then  returned  to 
Albany  and  Washington.  I  accompanied  him  and  the  Secretary  to  Water- 
loo, and  he  thanked  me  for  the  "  acceptable  service  rendered  him  in  the 
harbors  and  by  my  personal  attentions." 

November  2d.  The  vestry  of  Trinity  Church  at  Geneva  sent  me  a 
delegate  to  the  Episcopal  convention  at  Rochester. 

On  December  24th  I  hurried  to  Hampton  to  see  the  last  of  Colonel 
William  Fitzhugh.  He  died  on  the  29th,  at  the  age  of  seventy-nine,  a 
worthy  and  consistent  Christian  gentleman.  I  wrote  his  obituary.  He  had 
been  a  cornet  of  dragoons  in  the  Maryland  line,  and  aid-de-camp  to 
General    Gist    in    the    Revolution.       He    had    reared    a    family    of   twelve 


236  THE  MEMOIRS   OF 

children,  and  left  them  all  the  means  of  comfort  in  this  world,  and  an 
excellent  example. 

Three  hundred  and  thirty  thousand  dollars  for  forts  in  1839. 

1840.  Alexander  left  us  on  2d  January  for  Washington,  to  receive  his 
instructions  from  the  War  Department  to  proceed  to  France  to  prepare  to 
instruct  a  corps  of  sappers  and  miners,  and  he  sailed  from  New  York  for 
Havre  de  Grace  on  February  12th. 

During  the  month  of  February  prominent  Democrats  of  Monroe  and 
Wayne  counties  wrote  the  War  Department  that  I  was  interfering  adversely 
to  the  interests  of  the  Van  Buren  party,  and  requested  that  some  good 
Democrat  should  be  placed  in  my  office.  A  silly  accusation,  but  without 
any  foundation  in  fact,  for  during  my  United  States  agency  I  had  refrained 
from  all  political  meetings  and  political  action,  excepting  my  free  and  open 
vote. 

In  the  spring  an  effort  was  made  to  keep  the  Sodus  Canal  project  before 
the  public,  and  General  Adams  (June  ist)  and  myself  went  from  Clyde  to 
Geneva  to  negotiate  with  the  Shakers  for  securing  their  payments  for  the 
Sodus  tract,  but  without  success.  Our  operations  had  become  impeded  by 
the  stringency  in  the  money  market,  and  our  own  wealthy  stockholders 
could  not  see  the  policy  of  finishing  the  work  for  less  than  a  fourth  of  a 
million,  a  work  that  would  open  intercourse  between  Chesapeake  Bay  and 
Lake  Ontario,  and  yield  to  the  United  States  Government  every  means  of 
transport  of  military  supplies  to  protect  the  country  and  its  lake  commerce 
in  plaster,  salt,  iron,  coal  and  lumber.  The  finishing  of  the  work  had 
become  simple  and  cheap.  But  our  capitalist  stockholders  did  not  revive 
the  work,  and  the  land  reverted  to  Messrs.  Greig,  Duncan,  Butler  and 
Fellows.  General  Adams,  however,  with  respectable  perseverance  adhered 
to  the  plan  of  scouring  out  the  easy  sandy  loam  from  Clyde  to  the  head  of 
Sodus  Bay,  and  exhausted  his  private  means  in  the  essay.  I  have  devoted 
much  time  and  labor  and  my  means  to  this  work,  but  shall  reap  no  other 
benefit  than  the  gratification  of  knowing  it  will  be  revived  for  the  benefit  of 
others  and  the  country  at  large. 


GENERAL  JOSEPH  GARDNER  SWIFT.  237 

In  June  I  went  to  New  York  to  advance  my  chancery  suit  against  the 
Eckford  estate.     My  counsel,  Messrs.  Foote  and  Davies. 

June  17th  consulting  with  Mr.  Canon  of  Troy  upon  employment  upon 
the  Schenectady  Railroad,  and  agreed  to  return  to  Troy  with  my  brother 
William  on  this  subject.  On  19th  Major  McNeill  and  I  to  Stonington  and 
Providence  on  that  railroad  business,  and  thence  to  Boston  to  consult  with 
Patrick  Jackson.  On  21st  William  and  I  via  Worcester  to  view  the  well 
conducted  asylum  there,  and  thence  by  Norwich  and  New  York,  and  with 
the  Troy  and  Schenectady  Railroad  agent,  Mr.  Canon,  and  not  liking  his 
terms  I  returned  to  New  York,  and  William  to  Springfield. 

June  28th  to  Elizabethtown,  New  Jersey,  to  consult  General  Scott  in 
reference  to  a  reply  to  Thaddeus  Phelps,  who,  at  a  Democratic  meeting  had 
nominated  me  for  the  chief  magistracy  of  New  York.  General  Scott  said 
that  although  the  nomination  was  based  upon  my  official  relations  formerly 
with  Jefferson,  Madison  and  Monroe,  and  my  never  having  been  a  prominent 
political  actor,  he  thought  it  would  not  be  consistent  with  my  federal  prin- 
ciples to  consent  to  any  further  proceedings,  and  by  no  means  suitable  to 
my  limited  pecuniary  means,  in  all  which  I  agreed  with  him,  and  wrote  Mr. 
Phelps  in  accordance  therewith. 

July  2d  Mr.  Foot  accompanied  me  to  Mr.  W.  P.  Rathbone's,  in  Hacken- 
sack,  New  Jersey,  and  learned  from  him  that  my  city  property  on  Seventh 
Avenue  he  knew  had  been  conveyed  to  Henry  Eckford,  solely  to  secure  J. 
G.  Swift's  debt  to  the  Life  and  Fire,  and  for  no  other  purpose.  Accordingly 
at  the  next  meeting  on  my  case,  before  Master  in  Chancery  Lansing,  the 
testimony  of  Mr.  Rathbone,  S.  L.  Gouverneur,  Mr.  Hoxie  and  General 
Bogardus,  taken  and  recorded,  and  these  meetings  continued  at  periods 
until  the  end  of  the  year,  detaining  me  at  my  friend  Tucker's  through  the 
illness  and  to  the  death  of  my  child  in  Geneva.  Charlotte  died  there  on 
December  31st,  at  the  age  of  fifteen. 

Seven  hundred  and  eighty  thousand  dollars  for  forts  in  1840. 
1 84 1.     February  8th.     At  the  request  of  Leffert  Lefferts,  Esq.,  at  the 
expected  disturbance  of  the  United  States  with  France,  I   gave   him  my 
views   on   paper  on   the  means  of  defending  New  York,  with   a  plan  for 


238  THE  MEMOIRS   OF 

raising  volunteers  to  occupy  the  fortifications  of  the  harbor  in  co-operation 
with  troops  of  the  United  States.  At  the  instance  of  General  Scott  I 
examined  "  Mr.  Carter's  ball  propeller."  It  had  e.xcited  much  attention  in 
the  city.  I  drew  up  an  argument  to  show  that  no  centrifugal  force  created 
by  manual  strength  and  applied  to  cranks  and  hollow  spokes  of  wheels, 
would  propel  even  a  small  cannon  ball  with  sufficient  velocity  to  accomplish 
military  purposes. 

On  February  19th  the  last  examination  before  Master  Lansing.  The 
Eckford  counsel  presented  a  mortgage  of  my  Seventh  Avenue  property. 
It  was  deemed  a  bar  to  further  action  until  I  could  initiate  a  new  case, 
because  this  mortgage  is  only  part  and  parcel  of  the  one  and  same  transac- 
tion, namely,  to  give  Henry  Eckford  a  trust  of  my  property  to  pay  my  debt. 
He  never  had  given  a  cent  in  consideration  for  this  property,  and  I  had 
never  been  indebted  to  him  for  any  amount  whatever.  I  am  tired  of  this 
litigation,  and  shall  leave  the  pursuit  of  justice  to  my  heirs. 

March  loth.  To  Washington  on  a  visit  to  Colonel  Totten.  The  officers 
of  the  army  at  Washington  had  united  in  a  petition  to  General  Harrison  to 
reinstate  me  in  office,  an  extremely  pleasant  evidence  of  the  regard  of  my 
military  associates.  (See  the  document  on  my  files.)  With  General 
Macomb  I  waited  on  President  Harrison,  who  said  he  had  something  for  me 
to  do.  This  referred  to  the  proposal  of  Colonel  Abert  to  send  me  upon  a 
visit  of  inquiry  to  Canada,  having  reference  to  border  difficulties.  General 
Harrison  and  General  Macomb  concurred  on  the  necessity  of  further 
information  of  the  views  of  the  British  Government,  and  the  President 
requested  the  Secretary  of  War,  Mr.  Bell,  to  arrange  with  me  for  this 
expedition,  my  compensation  to  be  that  of  Brigadier  General  commanding, 
and  all  traveling  expenses. 

On  March  27th  to  New  York,  and  on  April  3d  to  Geneva,  the  first  meet- 
ing with  my  family  since  the  death  of  my  daughter  Charlotte. 

On  April  i6th  to  New  York,  and  with  Major  McNeill  to  Boston.  Here 
I  consulted  with  an  early  fric-nil,  Jeremiah  Mason,  who  gave  me  letters  to 
Sir  John  Caldwell  in  Canada.  With  Patrick  and  Dr.  Charles  Jackson,  and 
my  companion   (jf  the  days  of  fortifying  Boston,  and  other  eastern  harbors 


GENERAL  JOSEPH  GARDNER  SWIFT.  239 

in  1800,  etc.  —  Henry  A.  S.  Dearborn  —  who  had  excellent  views  of  our  rela- 
tions with  Canada,  and  of  our  means  of  purchasing  the  whole  province. 
We  passed  several  days  together  in  examining  Colonel  Thayer's  newly 
commenced  fort  at  Georges'  Island,  and  visited  Mount  Auburn. 

May  1st,  on  board  the  steamer  Columbia,  and  in  forty  hours  over  a  heavy 
swell  arrived  at  Halifax,  and  found  rooms  at  the  Masonic  Hall  Tavern,  and 
passed  a  week  in  examining  docks,  forts,  and  the  canal  of  Shubenacadie. 
Sir  John  Harvey  invited  me  to  the  review  of  two  thousand  troops.  I 
estimated  them  at  twelve  hundred.  He  introduced  me  to  Lord  Falkland, 
the  Governor,  who  invited  both  to  dinner,  and  had  a  pleasant  discussion  on 
the  relations  of  our  respective  governments.  I  gave  them  my  ideas,  that 
they  required  our  timber  and  we  their  trade,  and  both  upon  equal  terms.  I 
met  Colonel  Smelt  of  Eighth  Foot,  who  presented  me  to  his  lady,  a 
daughter  of  Beverly  Robinson.  The  lady  exhibited  much  American  feeling 
and  courtesy.  The  colonel  is  the  reputed  son  of  George  III,  and  is  much 
like  the  portraits  of  that  king.      He  had  been  sick. 

He  had  been  wounded  severely  on  the  Niagara  frontier  in  18 14.  He 
spoke  kindly  of  his  treatment  by  the  Americans.  Lady  Harvey,  a  plain 
person,  and  well-informed,  the  daughter  of  Lord  Lake,  of  East  India  celeb- 
rity. Lady  Falkland  is  very  pretty,  of  a  sad  countenance,  as  if  she  were 
thinking  of  her  mother,  Mrs.  Jordan,  and  her  father,  William  the  Fourth. 
Sir  John  Caldwell  was  one  of  the  guests.  I  had  a  letter  to  him.  We  dined 
at  the  mess  of  the  Eighth,  Thirty-Seventh  and  Sixty-Fourth  regiments,  in 
a  room  designed  by  the  Duke  of  Kent,  not  much  of  architectural  taste. 
Sir  John  Harvey  sent  warm  messages  to  his  friend.  General  Scott.  They 
had  been  able  pacificators  between  New  Brunswick  and  Maine.  On  nth  I 
took  the  coach,  and  by  that  beautiful  harbor  above  Halifax,  of  an  extent 
sufficient  to  moor  a  fleet  of  one  hundred  sail ;  came  to  the  margin  of  a  trout 
torrent  near  the  dividing  ridge,  and  descending  the  road,  thence  to  Windsor, 
through  a  rough,  stunted  growth  of  pine,  alder  and  birch,  to  the  river  of 
Windsor.  Examined  its  plaster  beds  and  the  bridge  across  to  Falmouth, 
the  rise  and  fall  of  the  tide  at  its  piers  varj'ing  from  forty-five  to  sixty-five 
feet.     I  found  several  of  the  descendants  of  the  refugees  from  the  United 


240  THE  MEMOIRS   OF 

States  in  the  war  of  1776.  Judge  Halliburton,  whom  I  had  been  introduced 
to  in  Washington  by  General  Scott,  the  Sam  Slick  of  the  romance,  and 
some  army  and  navy  officers,  all  very  courteous. 

On  14th  on  the  appropriately  named  steamer,  the  Maid  of  the  Alist, 
throuo-h  much  foe  in  the  Basin  of  Mines,  out  to  clear  weather  after  round- 
ing  Cape  Blowmedon,  to  St.  John,  N.  B.  Our  captain,  an  officer  of  the 
navy,  honored  me  with  a  salute,  which  made  my  entrance  to  the  city  more 
public  than  I  had  expected.  On  our  passage  I  observed  very  strong  cross 
currents  and  whirls,  and  the  steering  very  difficult,  arising  from  the  power 
of  the  tide  and  the  great  volume  of  water  that  had  to  pass  and  repass  twice 
a  day  between  headlands  on  both  sides  of  the  Bay  of  Fundy. 

At  St.  John  I  met  Charles,  son  of  the  consul,  James  Stewart,  Esq.,  of 
New  London,  now  in  England  ;  Mr.  Jewett,  whom  I  used  to  know,  a  ship 
carpenter  at  Smithville,  North  Carolina,  thirty  years  ago.  He  was  in 
affluence,  and  he  treated  me  with  much  civility.  Also  Mrs.  Campbell,  the 
sister  of  "Tom  Moore,  the  Consul,"  and  Mrs.  Joshua  Sands  of  Brooklyn. 
At  high  tide  over  the  falls  by  steam  to  Frederickton,  on  the  St.  Johns, 
where  I  was  courteously  treated  by  the  governor.  Sir  William  Colebrook, 
and  by  the  officers  of  the  Thirty-Seventh  Foot.  On  May  2 2d  I  returned 
to  Boston  by  the  North  America,  by  the  Saint  Croix  and  Campo  Bello  to 
Tremont  House,  from  whence  I  made  my  report  to  the  Government  at 
Washington.      (See  my  files.) 

On  May  24th  with  P.  T.  Jackson,  Esq.,  to  examine  the  water  power  and 
steam  machinery  at  Lowell,  over  the  best  railroad  as  yet  constructed  in  the 
United  States.  The  next  day  with  General  H.  A.  S.  Dearborn,  discussing 
the  views  of  the  policy  of  acquiring  Canada  by  purchase,  showing  England 
first  the  inevitable  event  of  our  becoming  one  government;  as  we  were 
descending  the  harbor  to  see  our  mutual  friend.  Colonel  S.  Thayer,  and  his 
accurate  fort  of  masonry  on  George's  Island. 

26th.  Met  General  Wool  at  the  Tremont,  and  had  some  Canadian  talk  ; 
also  G.  W.  Whistler.  We  two  went  to  his  house  in  Springfield,  and  then 
by  Worcester,  Norwich  and  New  London,  to  New  York. 

June  1st.    Arrived  at  home  in  Geneva,  and  found  all  well,  thanks  to  God. 


GENERAL  JOSEPH   GARDNER  SIVIET.  241 

On  3d  to  Buffalo  and  Niagara,  inquiring  into  the  purpose  of  the  o-reat 
assemblage  of  negroes  on  the  Canada  side,  as  they  said,  by  En^-Hsli 
authority.  Saw  many  fugitives  from  the  South,  and  much  excitement  and 
threats  of  revenge  for  ills  inflicted  by  slaver)-,  etc. 

15th.  To  Saratoga  over  the  grounds  of  the  battles  of  Gates  and  Bur- 
goyne.  Met  James  Stevenson  of  Albany.  Thence  to  Whitehall,  on  Lake 
Champlain,  to  Ticonderoga  and  Crown  Point,  and  received  on  board  the 
steamer,  Mrs.  Colonel  Churchill  of  United  States  Army.  To  Burlington. 
Bishop  Hopkins  has  a  beautiful  seat  here.  The  scenery  of  the  distant 
Adirondacks  and  Green  Mountains  admirable  on  one  of  the  clearest  days 
of  June. 

To  St.  Johns,  passing  Isle  au  Croix,  and  thence  by  railroad  to  Lachine, 
and  through  the  rapids  that  had  half  a  dozen  stout  men  at  the  helm,  better 
than  a  wheel,  because  more  controllable;  and  on  17th  had  nice  rooms  at 
Rosco's,  in  Montreal.  Called  on  Lady  Selby,  who  presented  me  to  several 
of  her  Canadian  friends.  That  lady  is  a  daughter  of  the  House  of  Longue- 
vllle.  On  the  following  day,  invited  to  a  review  on  the  race  grounds,  and 
had  a  sham  battle  of  Waterloo.  I  had  a  fine  horse  of  Colonel  Oldfield's. 
At  dinner  Madame  Selby  addressed  me  very  audibly :  "General,  I  hope 
when  you  take  Montreal  that  you  will  give  my  house  a  safe-guard."  This 
badinage  drew  upon  me  the  eyes  of  many  strangers  and  army  officers.  My 
reply  was  that  my  hope  was  that  all  my  visits  to  Canada  might  meet  the 
gentility  and  hospitality  of  peace,  such  as  then  surrounded  me.  My  time 
was  agreeably  filled  till  19th,  when  I  went  to  Quebec  and  met  Sir  James 
McDonnell,  the  hero  of  Waterloo.     He  told  me  the  merit  of  closing  the 

gates  at   Hoguemont   was    more   due   to   Sergeant  than    himself. 

General  Scott  Introduced  me  to  Sir  James.     In  reviewing  the  troops  the 
fine  looking  men  of  the  Coldstream  Guards  were  conspicuously  handsome. 

Cape  Drummond  and  General  Wolfe's  route  and  monument,  where  he 
fell  and  united  with  Montcalm  in  the  city,  had  my  respects. 

On  2 1st  to  the  Falls  of  MontmorencI,  stopping  at  Beauport  to  see  the 
French,  still  of  the  aspect  of  Louis  XIV.  At  the  falls  I  gathered  a  bouquet 
of  wild   flowers  and  gave  them  to  a  pretty  girl   in   a  garden   at   Beauport. 


242  THE  MEMOIRS   OF 

The  people  thronged  about  me  and  invited  me  to  their  church. 
Quite    a    scene. 

To  Point  Levy  and  the  navy  sHps.  The  whole  scene  at  and  from  Quebec 
one  of  the  grandest  type  in  nature. 

On  23d  ascended  the  St.  Lawrence  through  the  remarkable  black  rock)- 
gorge  of  Richelieu,  and  in  Lake  St.  Peters  could  only  see  the  tree  tops  on 
either  shore.  Made  a  halt  at  William  Henry,  the  outlet  of  the  Sorel,  and 
at  Montreal  rejoined  Colonel  Oldfield  of  the  engineers,  and  Lieutenant 
Bainbridge,  Colonel  Campbell,  etc.,  of  the  army,  and  again  reviewed  the 
troops  with  General  Jackson. 

To  the  mountain,  one  of  the  noblest  river  and  forest  views  probably  on 
the  globe. 

Examined  the  Cathedral,  and  then  on  26th  up  the  St.  Lawrence  to  the 
battle  ground  of  November  iith,  1813,  Chrysler's  Field. 

To  Prescott  and  Ogdensburg,  and  by  the  Thousand  Isles  to  Kingston 
with  Mr.  Herbert,  son  of  Lord  Clive,  and  met  my  Geneseo  friend,  R.  A. 
Tucker,  and  reviewed  the  troops  and  looked  at  the  forts,  and  passed  on  to 
Oswego,  and  met  Mr.  Henry  Fitzhugh,  and  so  home  to  Geneva,  after 
hearing  Sir  Allan  McNab  in  the  Parliament  House,  Kingston. 

July  19th  made  my  second  official  report  to  the  government.  (See  mj- 
files). 

July  26th  to  Niagara  and  Canada,  taking  Hortense  and  Jose  to  General 
P.  B.  Porter's,  and  with  General  Porter  to  his  battle  ground  of  Chippewa, 
1814.  On  31st  to  Buffalo  with  Hortense  and  Jose  to  Mrs.  Van  Deventer's. 
To  Cleveland,  Ohio,  and  Detroit.  Lake  St.  Clair  and  Canada. 

On  August  8th  to  Buffalo;  loth,  destruction  of  steamer  Erie.  1  returned 
to  Geneva  and  waited  till  19th  for  Anselm  K.  Terry,  to  whom  I  .sold  my 
Newstead  farm  for  seven  thousand  three  hundred  and  fifty  dollars. 

On  31st  at  old  Fort  Niagara  with  Captain  W.  D.  Eraser,  United  States 
engineers. 

September  1st  to  old  Fort  George  and  Messisauga  in  Canada,  and  on 
board  the  steamer  Transit  to  Toronto ;  my  fellow  passenger  Doctor  Edward 
Mitchell    of  South    Carolina,  my  schoolmate  at  the  acadcni)-  in  Taunton, 


GENERAL  JOSEPH   GARDNER  SWIFT.  243 

forty-two  years  ago;  our  first  meeting  since  those  days;  he  had  been  a 
lover  of  my  sister  Nancy,  and  much  beloved  by  all  of  us.  We  recognized 
each  other  on  the  deck  of  'the  steamer  simultaneously.  I  had  the  pleasure 
of  promoting  the  enjoyment  of  the  doctor  and  his  family  and  Mr.  Chew  of 
the  State  Department  at  Washington,  through  the  civility  of  General 
Clitherow,  at  the  reviews  of  the  English  troops,  Ninety-third  especially,  in 
which  Captain  Neil  Buchanan  furnished  me  a  fine  cavalry  horse  for  the 
reviews.  In  Toronto  was  entertained  by  the  family  of  R.  A.  Tucker  of 
Geneseo  memory.  Captain  B.,  etc. 

September  5th  to  Niagara  Falls,  Buffalo  and  Geneva. 

On  20th  to  New  York  on  my  way  to  Washington.  At  Newark  measured 
the  machinery  and  planes  of  the  Morris  canal,  and  sent  the  results  to  Captain 
Bainbridge,  English  engineer,  at  Montreal,  for  him  and  Colonel  Oldfield. 

On  October  7th  to  Philadelphia,  Baltimore  and  Washington,  and  from 
the  topographical  bureau  sent  the  new  map  of  the  United  States  to  Colonel 
Oldfield  of  the  English  engineers,  with  my  thanks  for  the  information  about 
Canada  that  he  had  furnished  me  at  Montreal. 

With  General  Scott  to  call  on  the  President  to  converse  on  the  subject  of 
my  embassy.  Mr.  Tyler  renewed  an  acquaintande  that  had  commenced  at 
Richmond  many  years  previously,  when  no  one  dreamed  of  his  attaining 
the  chief  magistracy.  I  found  him  so  full  of  joy  at  having  brought  Mr. 
John  C.  Spencer  into  the  War  Department,  that  Mr.  Tyler  could  give  little 
heed  to  the  subject  of  buying  Canada  on  General  Dearborn's  plan,  which  I 
was  endeavoring  to  explain  to  him.  In  fact  I  was  reminded  of  the  remark 
of  Colonel  Monroe  at  the  door  of  General  Harrison  in  the  previous  spring: 
"  Harrison  will  die,  and  the  luckiest  man  in  Virginia  will  occupy  his  chair.  " 
The  levity  of  Mr.  Tyler's  manner  does  his  sense  no  justice.  Judge  Baldwin 
was  with  us,  and  was  impressed  as  I  was  when  Mr.  Tyler  remarked  on  Mr. 
Clay  that  he  was  vastly  inferior  to  Patrick  Henry — an  uncalled  for  and  very 
unsuitable  remark,  even  if  true.  We  agreed  that  Mr.  Spencer  was  a  man 
of  high  attainments  and  experience  in  politics,  for  he  had  been  prominent 
in  every  party  of  the  Union,  etc.  To  Mr.  Spencer,  Mr.  Tyler  referred  me 
to  commune  on  my  Canadian  excursion. 


244  THE  MEMOIRS    OF 

October  i  ith  attended  as  member  of  a  meeting  of  the  National  Institute, 
where  my  son  Alexander's  memoir  on  the  moving  sands  of  the  south 
Atlantic  shore  of  France,  called  the  Downs,  which  he  had  examined,  and 
the  mode  of  arresting  their  progress  by  planting  willows  and  grasses,  with 
a  view  of  employing  similar  means  on  the  coast  of  Carolina. 

October  17th  conversed  with  Mr.  John  Bell,  late  Secretaiy  of  War,  on  the 
purchase  of  Canada,  and  of  the  purpose  of  General  Harrison  in  my 
Canadian  expedition.  Mr.  Bell  approved  of  my  views,  as  also  did  Secretarj- 
Spencer  and  General  Scott  and  Colonel  Abert. 

Mr.  Spencer  addressed  a  note  of  approbation  on  the  termination  of  ni)- 
service.      (See  document  on  my  files). 

On  November  5th  General  Scott,  Major  McNeill  and  myself  to  Baltimore. 
At  Mr.  Sehly's,  Baltimore,  conversing  on  the  Canadian  affairs.  Met  here 
my  friend  Doctor  Wyatt,  with  Bishop  Chase  and  Mr.  Whitingham. 

On  19th  to  Brooklyn. 

Four  hundred  and  fifty-five  thousand  dollars  for  torts  in  1841. 

1842.  This  winter  had  much  correspondence  with  Colonel  Abert  on 
national  affairs,  and  especially  upon  internal  improvements  and  of  my 
conviction  that  the  democratic  party  had  ever  opposed  them.  The  next 
day  replied  to  Mr.  Germain's  proposal  to  e.xperiment  on  some  eastern  road 
witli  his  railroad  car  having  a  parallel  motion  to  adapt  itself  to  any 
curvature.  On  12th  to  Springfield  to  arrange  for  this  experiment  with 
Whistler,  ad  interim  to  New  York  to  bring  Jose  to  Springfield,  where 
Whistler  had  just  received  letters  that  invited  him  to  Russia.  We  went  to 
Boston  to  consult  with  Patrick  T.  Jackson,  and  the  last  of  April  I  e.scorted 
Whistler's  men  to  Providence  and  Kingston,  R.  1.  On  my  return  to 
Providence  met  Alexander  Duncan,  P2sq.,  and  aided  him  in  conveying 
valuables  to  Boston  to  avoid  the  threatening  aspect  of  affairs  in  the  Dorr 
rebellion,  meeting  there  Colonel  Thayer  and  Julius  W.  Adams. 

On  May  3d  I  returned  to  .Springfield  to  see  Whistler  on  his  Russian  plan. 

On  the  same  day  met  Mr.  Germain  with  his  car  from  Catskill,  and  made 
an  experiment  on  the  sixty-feet  plane  with  his  car  and  one  of  Mr.  Winans' 
eight-wheeled  cars.      By  their  spontaneous  descent  on   that  inclined  plane 


GENERAL  JOSEPH  GARDNER  SWIFT.  245 

both  cars  accumulating  velocity  b)-  their  descent,  ran  through  the  depot 
track.  Winans'  crossed  the  bridge  ;  Germain's  did  not  reach  the  bridge. 
Equal  loads  in  both,  proving  that  a  too  easy  movement  of  the  parallel,  to 
adapt  the  wheels  to  the  curve,  had  caused  them  to  move  from  side  to  side 
too  readily,  /.  e.,  such  an  arrangement  of  motion  requires  a  more  perfect 
construction  of  railway  than  has  yet  been  accomplished ;  also  that  the  spring 
of  the  lone  car  of  Winans  is  better  suited  to  the  curves  of  our  roads  than 
Mr.  Germain's.  The  last  may  be  improved,  but  thus  far  Winans'  is  best. 
1  was  present  in  1828  at  Baltimore  when  Winans  first  proposed  his  car. 
The  great  fact  about  facile  motion  is  that  the  car  gear  and  the  rail  track 
must  correspond  in  acciu-acy  and  nicety  of  construction. 

May  4th  Whistler  and  Debo,  Jose  and  myself  to  Albany.  McRee  went 
to  Geneva  with  Jose,  and  Debo,  Whistler  and  myself  to  Washington,  where 
we  arrived  on  the  7th,  meeting  Major  Bautatz  of  the  Russian  service,  and 
General  Tallmadge,  who  gave  Whistler  some  points  in  the  character  of  the 
Emperor  Nicholas,  in  reference  to  his  industry  and  desire  to  improve  public 
works,  that  may  be  useful  to  Whistler. 

On  8th  met  the  Russian  ambassador,  Mr.  Bodisco,  and  arranged  for 
Whistler's  service  at  twelve  thousand  dollars  a  year.  Had  with  Mr. 
Bodisco  an  interesting  conversation  on  the  difficulties  of  a  Russian  cam- 
paign across  the  Indus  and  the  sands  to  India,  and  of  its  inutility,  while 
England  had  the  supremacy  of  naval  power. 

May  loth  with  Mr.  Tyler  and  Major  McNeill  to  converse  upon  my  plans 
for  a  navy  dock  on  the  Harlem  and  Hud.son  Rivers.  (See  my  report  of 
Januar)',  1838,  on  my  files.)  The  President  too  much  engrossed  in  politics 
to  be  much  interested  in  our  subject.  General  Tallmadge  gave  the  Presi- 
dent some  strong  remarks  on  his  leaving  the  measures  of  the  Whigs,  who 
had  elevated  him.  The  President  replied  that  the  Whigs  had  left  him,  and 
that  he  had  therefore  "chumped"  Congress,  alluding  to  a  waggoner's  mode 
of  retarding  his  wheels. 

On  May  15th  Whistler  and  myself  to  Albany,  he  to  Boston  for  England 
and  Russia,  and  I  home  to  my  family  in  Geneva. 


246  THE  MEMOIRS    OF 

June  29th  Major  Tucker  and  family  with  us.  Examining  the  new  Trinity- 
church,  now  up  to  the  floor. 

At  the  celebration  of  Independence  our  families  witnessed  a  sad  scene  of 
negligence  at  the  fireworks,  by  which  several  people  were  killed  and 
wounded  by  the  rockets. 

July  19th  to  Rochester,  and  by  the  steamer  to  Niagara  with  Major 
Delafield  and  family  to  the  Falls.  Returning  home  the  last  of  the  month, 
and  found  our  son  Alexander,  who  had  arrived  from  Washington ;  his  first 
visit  home  after  his  return  from  France.  (See  his  journals.)  Also  met  at 
our  house  the  artist,  Daniel  Huntington,  and  the  artist  Verbryck,  a  very 
interesting  person,  as  also  is  his  brother  Huntington. 

September  8th  to  New  York  to  attend  the  wedding,  on  the  15th  instant, 
of  my  son  McRee  and  Hortense,  the  daughter  of  my  friend,  Thomas  I. 
Chew,  at  94  Willow  Street,  Brooklyn,  married  by  Reverend  Doctor  Cutler 
of  St.  Ann's.  Guests,  Colonels  Totten  and  J.  Smith,  A.  J.  DeRosset,  Mr. 
Dickinson  and  my  son  Alexander.  On  23d  I  went  to  see  Alexander  and  Mr. 
Davies  at  the  Point,  and  the  worthy  widow  of  Colonel  Mansfield  said  to  me, 
"You  may  expect  most  of  your  worldly  joys  in  the  decline  of  your  days." 

While  in  New  York  on  September  i6th  my  brother  William  and  I  called 
on  Life  and  Fire  Insurance  Company  receivers,  Mr.  Hoffman  and  J.  T. 
Lawrence,  about  the  notice  of  July  6th,  1842,  in  the  papers,  of  a  dividend  on 
the  stock  of  that  company.  I  held  four  hundred  and  seventy-seven  shares 
of  it,  four  hundred  of  which  had  been  transferred  to  me  by  Henry  Eckford 
while  on  his  trial  in  1826,  and  which  four  hundred  shares  after  the  trial  Mr. 
Eckford  had  required  me  to  re-transfer  to  him,  and  which  by  advice  of  my 
counsel,  George  Sullivan,  I  declined  doing.  These  acts  of  Mr.  Eckford  I 
have  never  understood.  I  owed  him  nothing.  My  mortgage  and  deed  to 
him  of  my  .Seventh  Avenue  property  was  to  secure  my  debt  to  the  Life  and 
I'ire  Company.  I  le  never  ])aid  that  debt,  and  went  to  Turkey  and  died 
there,  and  his  executors  never  paid  it,  but  on  the  above  receivers 
declining  to  pay  me  any  dividend,  I  employed  John  B.  Thorp  to  buy  Life 
and  Fire  bonds  for  me  to  balance  the  debt  therewith,  and  this  he  did  to 
enable   the  receivers  to  join   me   in   my  chancery  suit  against  the  Eckford 


GENERAL  JOSEPH   GARDNER  SWIFT.  247 

estate.  September  2 2d  Reverend  Dr.  Hawks  showed  me  the  memorial  of 
the  Episcopal  Church  of  St.  James,  New  Hanover,  North  Carolina,  October 
ist,  1759,  signed  by  Lewis  John  De  Rosset,  planter  and  member  of  His 
Majesty's  Counsel  and  Receiver-General ;  William  Walker  (brother  of 
James),  Sheriff  N.  H.  John  DuBois  (uncle),  merchant  and  justice  of  peace, 
and  Moses  John  De  Rosset,  M.  D. 

One  million,  three  hundred  and  sixty-six  thousand  dollars  for  forts 
in   1842. 

1843.  This  winter  I  employed  myself  lecturing  to  the  Young  Men's 
Association,  and  in  preparing  papers  for  my  files. 

The  spring  opened  early.  Busied  myself  with  new  fences  and  gardening, 
having  no  professional  employ. 

On  June  22d  Peter  Richards,  Junior,  and  my  daughter  Josephine  were 
married  by  Rev.  P.  P.  Irving,  Mr.  George  Richards  attending,  and  Bishop 
DeLancy  and  Major  Rees,  and  Mrs.  J.  W.  Woods.  Our  joy  was  in  some 
degree  diminished  by  the  death  of  our  friend  and  neighbor.  Doctor  Edward 
Cutbush.  The  wedding  party  dispersed,  some  to  the  Falls,  others  to  New 
York,  etc. 

On  26th  Judge  Brown  Whiting,  Mr.  DeLeng  and  myself  to  the  head  of 
the  lake  and  to  crossing  on  the  Chemung,  and  thence  by  railroad  to  Bloss- 
burgh  to  examine  the  coal  and  iron  mines  at  that  place,  in  reference  to 
forming  a  company  to  transport  these  to  Geneva  and  to  Lake  Ontario  at 
Sodus  Bay. 

August  15th  R.  C.  Nicholas  and  myself  to  the  Episcopal  convention  at 
Auburn,  as  delegates  from  Trinity  at  Geneva.  Here  was  commenced  the 
first  conventional  action  of  the  laity  adverse  to  the  theological  influence  of 
the  Oxford  tracts,  and  to  their  influence  in  the  theological  seminary  in  New 
York.  Mr.  Nicholas  and  myself  were  appointed  a  committee  to  see  Bishop 
DeLancey,  and  to  say  that  if  the  Gospel  Messenger  published  any  extracts 
from  the  Bishop's  address  in  favor  of  that  seminary,  the  lay  members  of  the 
convention  would  deny  their  accuracy.  The  Bishop  said  no  extract  should 
be  published,  and  none  was.    Those  of  the  laity  opposed  to  the  ultra  church 


24S  THE  MEMOIRS    OF 

views  at  this  convention,  made  an  essay  to  sustain  tlieir  views  in  a 
new  paper  to  be  published  in  New  York. 

September  4th  John  Delafield  came  to  buy  a  farm.  I  aided  him  to  find 
the  three  hundred  and  fifty  acres  on  the  Rose  tract,  opposite  Geneva.  He 
moved  his  family  to  it  in  the  middle  of  October,  and  soon  gave  that  farm 
the  best  aspect  of  any  in  Western  New  York. 

October  19th,  forwarded  to  Willy  at  Buffalo  orders  from  Secretan,-  of  the 
Navy  for  him  to  join  the  Ohio,  seventy-four,  at  Boston. 

November  2d,  Sally  and  myself  to  West  Point,  to  see  Alexander,  and 
thence  to  Brooklyn.  Met  Willy  on  his  way  home  from  the  Ohio,  he  having 
been  there  "  surveyed  "  by  a  board  of  surgeons  and  found  unseaworthy  by 
reason  of  the  injury  received  on  board  the  Brandywine. 

December  21st  a  meeting  with  some  quiet  Whig  friends  at  General 
Tallmadge's,  where  it  was  agreed  that  I  should  proceed  to  Washington  to 
present  to  Mr.  Tyler  the  views  of  those  gentlemen  in  reference  to  the 
contemplated  annexation  of  Texas,  and  upon  the  purpose  of  abandoning 
protective  measures.  I  found  at  Washington  that  Mr.  Secretary  Upshur 
favored  our  views  in  these  matters,  and  with  him  laid  the  thoughts  before 
Mr.  Tyler,  having  reference  to  the  wishes  of  the  men  who  had  nominated 
him  at  Harrisburg.  But  Mr.  Tyler  deemed  these  views  "anti-democratic," 
an  open  admission  of  his  abandonment  of  the  Whigs. 

Five  hundred  and  eighty-eight  thousand  dollars  for  forts  in   1843-44. 

1844.  1  continued  in  Washington  the  month  of  January,  and  early  in 
February  visited  cousin  Mary  H.,  the  widow  of  William  R.  Swift,  and  lountl 
her  at  her  needle  between  his  and  my  portraits,  by  J.  W.  Jarvis,  and  the  old 
family  tankard  on  the  table.  These  Mary  intends  for  my  family.  At 
Washington  I  quartered  with  General  Scott  and  family.  The  daughter 
Virginia  ill,  and  had  entered  the  nunnerj'  at  Georgetown,  where  the  General 
and  myself  visited  her,  finding  there  also,  as  Lady  Abbess,  Wilhelmina 
Jones,  the  daughter  of  Commander  Jacob  Jones.  The  daughter  Virginia 
died  in  this  nunnery. 

February  20th,  Honorable  N.  (i.  Walker,  Washington  Hunt,  Colonel 
Abert   and  self  and  others  on  board    the   steamer   Princeton,  by   invitation 


GENERAL  JOSEPH  GARDNER  SWIFT.  249 

from  Captain  Stockton,  to  go  below  Mount  Vernon  to  experiment  with  his 
immense  gun,  throwing  a  ball  of  two  hundred  and  twenty  pounds,  with  some 
percussion,  two  miles  at  a  target.  The  concussion  very  sharp  and  acute  in 
sound,  that  was  injuriously  stunning. 

February  2 2d.  The  anniversary  of  the  great  namesake  for  whom  the 
city  was  called,  rather  insipid,  and  so,  unbecoming. 

My  friends  in  Washington  offer  me  a  place  in  the  War  Department,  the 
chief  clerkship,  but  it  did  not  suit  me,  and,  with  thanks,  I  declined  any 
further  movement,  and  on  February  27th  left  for  home.  In  my  route  was 
overtaken  by  an  express  giving  the  dreadful  news  of  the  bursting  of  the 
gun  on  board  the  Princeton,  killing  Secretary  of  State,  Secretary  of  War, 
Mr.  Maxy  and  Doctor  Gardiner,  etc.  Colonel  Abert  and  myself  had  been 
invited  to  that  experiment,  and  escaped  by  my  hurrying  from  the  office 
purposes  of  my  friends. 

On  March  ist,  with  my  wife  and  family,  left  Brooklyn  by  steam  to 
Bridgeport  on  the  Sound.  Saw  large  flocks  of  wild  geese  resting  in  their 
northern  flight,  and  by  the  Housatonic  to  Albany  and  Geneva. 

On  Easter  Monday  the  church  elected  me  again  to  their  vestry.  On  i  ith 
I  gave  a  lecture  to  the  Young  Men's  Association  on  the  durability  of  the 
Union.     (See  my  files.) 

On  May  8th  Cousin  Henry  Walker  and  Mr.  Chatham  on  a  short  visit 
from  Baltimore,  where  he  from  Arkansas,  and  James  W.  Osborne  from 
North  Carolina,  had  both  been  vice-presidents  in  the  Clay  convention. 

July  19th  Colonel  Abert  came  to  see  me  to  converse  on  the  probability 
of  re-commencing  the  lake  harbors,  and  on  21st  he  returned  to  West  Point. 

On  25th  had  a  visit  from  Mr.  Audubon,  the  naturalist.  He  gave  me  the 
history  of  the  Campinola  that  corrected  the  extravagant  story  of  Waterton 
as  to  the  loudness  of  the  tones  of  the  bell  bird.  I  gave  Mr.  Audubon 
letters  to  promote  the  sale  of  his  great  work. 

August  8th  an  interview  between  the  Bishop  and  Wardens  Nicholas  and 
Rees,  in  reference  to  the  notions  of  church  furniture,  not  otherwise  import- 
ant than  as  indicative  of  more  important  purposes  in  the  Oxford  party.  I 
confess  I  do  not  understand  Bishop  DeLancy's  views,  though  he  returns  t  > 


250  THE   MEMOIRS   OF 

ancient  usage.  At  the  next  meeting  of  our  vestry  a  motion  was  lost  to 
print  Bishop  Onderdonk's  last  sermon  in  Geneva,  where  the  movement 
in  Pennsylvania  was  mentioned  in  reference  to  Henr}-  Onderdonk,  which 
influenced  the  vote  in  some  degree. 

On  October  i6th  Colonel  and  Mrs.  Totten  came  to  see  us.  he  to  inspect 
the  harbor  of  Sodus  Bay,  with  Commodore  Morris,  and  in  reference  to 
naval  purposes. 

November  iith  I  sprained  my  ankle,  and  laid  up  and  examined  the 
English  and  American  accounts  of  the  various  battles  of  181 2-14. 

Five  hundred  and  eight  thousand  dollars  for  forts  in  1844-45. 

1845.     Ori  1 2th  February  went  to  Brooklyn,  and  met  my  son  Alexander. 

February  25th  Alexander  and  myself  went  to  Washington,  and  I 
took  my  quarters  with  my  brother  William  H.,  at  the  junction  of  F  and 
Twentieth  streets,  west.  Visited  the  venerable  Daniel  Carroll  and  daughters 
at  Duddington.  Mr.  Carroll  gave  me  many  anecdotes  of  Washington,  with 
whom  he  had  a  close  intimacy.  The  last  of  the  month  my  friend  John  L. 
Smith  arrived  in  Washington  from  an  exploration  of  the  Tortugas  in  the 
Gulf  of  Mexico. 

March  ist  Governor  Marcy  and  myself  called  on  Postmaster-General  to 
secure  the  office  of  postmaster  of  Geneva  to  Major  James  Rees. 

March  4th  attended,  with  General  Scott,  the  inauguration  of  Mr.  Polk  as 
President. 

March  12th  with  Colonel  Abert  on  the  formation  of  a  board  of  engineers 
consisting  of  Colonel  Kearny,  Major  Trumbull  and  myself,  to  repair  to 
Buffalo  to  form  a  plan  of  a  harbor  and  break-water.  The  last  of  the  month 
returned  on  my  way  to  this  duty  to  my  residence  in  Geneva,  and  on  April 
7th  the  board  met  at  Buffalo.  (See  report  in  War  Department).  On  May 
2 1  St  returned  to  Geneva. 

On  27th  to  Brooklyn,  where  I  wrote  Major  Whi.stler  a  caution  not  to 
write  me  too  plainly  of  the  misdoings  of  Klein  Michel,  lest  his  letters  should 
be  overhauled  and  he  sent  to  Siberia. 

On  June  3d  left  Brooklyn  and  went  to  my  brother  William  in  Washington, 
to  remain  with  his  family  at  F  and  Twentieth  streets,  during  his  absence  in 


GENERAL  JOSEPH   GARDNER  SWIFT.  251 

Illinois  on  the  business  of  the  Barings  of  London  as  to  the  canal  and  lands. 
The  middle  of  the  month  with  S.  J.  Gouverneur  and  daughter  Lizzie  on 
horseback  to  Oak  Hill  in  Loudon  County,  and  explored  the  Blue  Ridge  and 
valley.     Surpassingly  beautiful. 

June  27th  the  obsequies  of  the  late  General  Jackson  celebrated  at  Wash- 
ington. General  Scott  and  myself  had  a  carriage  assigned  for  us,  and  at 
the  Capitol  Mr.  Bancroft  gave  an  eloquent  eulogy. 

July  4th  celebrated  at  Washington,  killing  three  inexperienced  gunners. 

July  5th  Mr.  Secretary  of  War  Marcy  arrived,  and  I  had  a  long  interview 
with  him  explanatory  of  the  works  at  Buffalo,  and  closing  my  agency  therein. 

July  20th  Mr.  Harbeck  called  on  me  with  a  report  of  a  fire  in  Broad  and 
Exchange  Streets,  New  York,  destroying  among  the  many  the  store  of  my 
son-in-law,  54  Exchange  Place.     The  insurance  nearly  covered  the  loss. 

On  August  2d  my  brother,  W.  H.  Swift  and  daughter,  returned  from  Illi- 
nois, and  the  next  day  accompanied  General  Scott  and  myself  to  New  York. 

On  9th  to  West  Point  on  a  visit  to  my  son  Alexander,  then  superintending 
the  military  academy  ^r^  tent,  and  there  met  General  Scott,  who  read  to  me 
his  political  paper  on  the  presidency;  my  opinion  given  to  him  was,  it  was 
best  for  him  to  command  the  army.  We  examined  Delafield's  fine  improve- 
ments and  road  through  the  cedars,  etc.,  round  the  Point.  They  do 
Delafield  much  credit. 

At  the  close  of  this  month  the  government  at  last  sent  Commodore 
Morris,  United  States  Navy,  and  Colonel  Totten,  Chief  United  States 
engineers,  to  examine  Big  Sodus  Bay.  I  sent  them  my  views,  long  since 
formed,  on  this  subject. 

September  8th  Mrs.  Swift's  cousin,  Francis  B.  DuBois,  of  Tortola,  visited 
us.  His  account  of  the  evils  of  British  emancipation  of  W^est  India  slaves, 
though  a  good  object,  was  made  unwisely,  and  was  promotive  of  laziness 
and  other  vices. 

This  fall  I  had  much  corrspondence  with  Reverend  P.  P.  Irving  on  the 
petition  of  the  ladies  of  Trinity  for  him  to  return.  Our  vestry  divided  on 
this  high  and  low  subject.      I   had  recently  had  a  grave  conversation  with 


252  THE  MEMOIRS   OF 

Bishop  DeLancy  on  the  bad  influence  of  the  decision  of  the  ecclesiastic 
trial  of  Washington  Van  Zant. 

At  the  close  of  this  month  Mr.  DuBois  cammenced  a  suit  to  recover  the 
Minnisink  lands  that  belonged  to  Dominie  Gualthemus  DuBois,  Mrs. 
Swift's  great-grandfather,  and  I  gave  Mr.  DuBois  an  order  on  the  consistor)' 
of  the  Dutch  church  in  the  city  to  deliver  the  portrait  of  said  Reverend 
Walter  to  him  as  next  male  heir. 

Eight  hundred  thousand  dollars  for  forts  in  1845-46. 

1846.     January.     At  the  last  meeting  of  the  vestry  of  Trinity  in  Geneva 

a  majority  of  voices  elected  Reverend our  pastor,  and 

advised  him  that  the  call  was  unanimous.     I  informed  him  on  his  arrival 
that  the  information  was  incorrect.     He  then  declined. 

February  2d  the  vestry  elected  Reverend  John  H.  Hobart.  I  voted  for 
him  and  was  requested  to  correspond  with  him.  When  he  arrived  he  in- 
formed me  that  his  church  views  were  higher  than  Mr.  Williams'.  I 
sent  Mr.  Hobart  a  drawing  of  our  parsonage,  and  he  preached  his  first 
sermon  April  19th. 

May  3d  my  brother  William  from  his  Baring  agency  at  Chicago.  Con- 
versed with  him  on  the  war  coming  with  Mexico,  and  tendered  my  services 
to  the  President,  but  was  not  called  to  serve. 

May  2  2d  my  son  McRee  became  engineer  and  superintendent  of  Weldon 
and  Wilmington,  North  Carolina,  Railroad. 

On  12th  Mr.  Cady  and  other  commissioners  examined  the  vicinity  of 
Geneva  for  a  site  for  an  hospital.  They  fixed  on  Rochester.  I  accompanied 
them  in  the  Geneva  examination. 

May  26th  General  W.  H.  Adams  on  Sodus  Canal  at  my  house.  That  had 
been  sleeping  a  long  while. 

July  8th  my  friend,  Benjamin  Armitage  of  the  musical  club  of  New  York 
and  Brooklyn,  visited  me  at  Geneva,  and  revived  memoirs  of  F.  C.  Tucker, 
Daniel  Okey,  Reverend  J.  M.  Wainwright,  John  Delafield,  Joseph  Chester- 
man,  Ab  Taylor,  Walter  Phelps,  etc. 

On  July  21st  died  my  friend  Thomas  J.  Chew,  at  Brooklyn,  at  the  age  of 
seventy  years,  father  of  Hortense,  wife  of  McRee. 


GENERAL  JOSEPH   GARDNER  SWIFT.  253 

August  1 6th  Colonel  Totten's  daughter  and  her  intellectual  husband, 
Telford,  and  son,  visited  us. 

On  19th  declined  the  membership  of  our  Episcopal  convention  because  I 
disapproved  our  church  adopting  any  of  the  peculiarities  of  the  Oxford  school. 

September  5  th  my  son  Alexander  visited  us  to  take  leave  and  march  with 
the  "  sappers  and  miners  "  that  he  had  organized  to  assault  Vera  Cruz. 

In  October  I  explored  Seneca  County  with  John  Delafield.  He  com- 
mences to  lecture  on  agricultural  chemistry  to  the  farmers,  and,  as  Mr.  John 
Johnson  told  me,  with  very  great  and  useful  success. 

October  3d  Colonel  and  Mrs.  Totten  made  us  a  short  visit,  the  colonel 
on  an  inspecting  tour. 

November  loth  at  Newburg,  where  my  son  McRee  was  engineer  of  the 
New  York  and  Erie  branch.  Lodged  at  the  old  tavern,  where  I  had  lodged 
when  I  was  a  cadet,  forty-five  years  ago. 

November  19th  I  visited  our  friend  Major  John  L.  Smith  at  Governor's 
Island.  Examined  Vanderlyn's  Columbus,  and  Brown's  bust  of  Ambrose 
Spencer,  a  good  Vespasian. 

November  26th  conversed  with  General  Scott  and  Major  J.  L.  Smith  on 
the  proposed  campaign  to  Vera  Cruz.  My  age  assumed  to  be  the  cause  of 
my  services  not  being  accepted.  I  suspect  my  being  a  New  Englander  to 
be  a  stronger  influence.  At  the  General's  request  I  promised  my  attentions 
to  his  family  in  his  absence,  and  escorted  them  to  Elizabethtown,  Decem- 
ber 1st. 

On  5th  we  had  our  first  advices  of  Alexander's  arrival  with  sappers  and 
miners  and  pontooneers  at  Rio  Grande. 

Consultation  with  United  States  officers  as  to  a  gun-boat  system  to 
occupy  the  shoals  in  the  lower  harbor  of  New  York,  laying  up  the  gun- 
boats, etc. 

December  15th  I  wrote  a  memoir  of  Colonel  Jonathan  Williams,  for 
Doctor  Williams  of  Deerfield,  Massachusetts,  who  is  collating  facts  of  that 
numerous  family. 

The  last  of  December  visit  Mrs.  General  Scott  at  Elizabethtown,  and 
arranged  to  accompany  Mrs.  Scott  and  family  to  Philadelphia,  in  Washing- 


2  54  THE  MEMOIRS  OF 

ton  Square,  and  made  a  plan  to  enlarge  the  Hampton  House  at  Elizabeth- 
town,  and  made  a  contract  with  Mr.  Thompson  to  execute  the  plan. 

1847.  I  passed  my  New  Year's  day  with  a  friend  of  long  endurance, 
Thomas  Cadwallader,  of  Philadelphia,  who  married  Miss  Biddle  ;  met  James 
Monroe,  and  conversed  upon  our  prospects  in  the  erroneous  war  with 
Mexico,  and  met  General  Sam.  Houston  and  Mr.  Rusk  of  Texas  on  the 
same  subject,  and  with  Monroe  and  Colonel  George  Bomford,  (United 
States  ordnance)  and  J.  Eakin,  Esquire,  returned  to  Brooklyn,  stopping  at 
Elizabethtown  to  give  directions  to  Mr.  Thompson  in  reference  to  extending 
the  Hampton  House  for  Mrs.  General  Scott. 

Wrote  a  plan  for  a  camp  of  instruction  on  Hempstead  Plain  for  a  rifle 
brigade,  to  meet  the  Mexicans  in  their  defiles.  Mr.  Poinsett  says  the 
Mexicans  are  excellent  elements  to  form  an  army,  from  their  nomadic  life 
and  very  simple  diet,  and  recklessness  of  life.  Mr.  Poinsett  was  our  min- 
ister in  Mexico,  an  observing  and  accurate  gentleman.  I  wrote  and  sent  to 
the  topographical  bureau  my  ideas  of  occupying  the  Huas-a-hualeos  Pass 
and  Tehuantepec,  and  constructing  a  railroad  to  the  Pacific  on  that  pass. 

F'ebruary  15th  resigned  my  membership  of  the  vestry  of  Trinity  Church, 
Geneva. 

February  i6th.  Major  F.  C.  Tucker  and  myself,  as  guardians  of  Julia,  the 
daughter  of  Commodore  Samuel  Evans  (United  States  navy),  closed  our 
relations  in  that  matter  —  the  beautiful  Julia  having  married  Mr.  Gettings  of 
Baltimore. 

March  23d,  Major  Tucker,  Mr.  March  and  myself  (three  of  Judge 
Leffert  Lefferts'  intimates)  went  uninvited  to  the  funeral  of  the  judge 
at  Bedford.     He  was  seventy-three  years  of  age. 

April  3d  Mr.  Richards,  Mr.  D.  Huntington  and  myself  selected  a  lot 
in  Greenwood  —  in  Twilight  Dell  —  for  Mr.  Richards'  and  my  family.  Deed 
on  my  files.  On  .same  day  my  friend  Gouverneur  Kemble  informed  me  that 
the  books  and  Bird's  scale  given  to  me  by  Professor  Hassler  (left  by  me  at 
the  West  Point  foundry)  had  been  remounted,  and  had  now  become  worth 
one  thousand  dollars ;  a  delicate  acknowledgment  of  my  services  in  estab- 
lishing West  Point  foundry,  and  for  which  Mr.  Kemble  sent  me  his  bond  at 


GENERAL  JOSEPH  GARDNER  SWIFT.  255 

seven  per  cent,  interest.     My  original  investment  in  West  Point  foundry  I 
lost  by  endorsing  for  Thomas  Shields. 

April  6th,  Louisa  and  myself  sat  to  Mr.  Huntington  for  our  portraits 
in  one  cabinet  size.  We  dined  that  day  with  the  Kembles,  and  next  day 
with  Major  M.  T.  Leslie,  United  States  army. 

April  13th,  I  disinterred  the  remains  of  my  mother  and  sister  Mary,  and 
my  child  Harriet,  and  reinterred  them  in  Twilight  Dell  in  Greenwood ;  the 
coffins  in  good  condition,  the  silver  plate  on  Mary's  very  bright. 

On  1 8th  wrote  General  Brooks,  United  States  army,  New  Orleans,  of  my 
son  Alexander's  sickness,  there  arrived  from  Vera  Cruz  with  the  Mexican 
bowel  disease. 

On  19th  wrote  General  James  Gadsden,  my  former  aid-de-camp,  on  my 
nephew  G.  W.  Whistler's  establishing  a  steam  machine  manufactory  at 
Charleston,  South  Carolina. 

On  19th,  McRee  to  Brooklyn  ;  met  Dr.  Wood,  United  States  army,  who 
informed  us  of  Alexander's  being  very  ill  at  New  Orleans.  1  reported  the 
same  to  Generals  Scott  and  Worth. 

On  29th  Mr.  Wilson  placed  stone  pillars  to  sustain  my  mother's  grave 
stone.  On  the  same  day  I  removed  the  remains  of  my  friend  Thomas  John 
Chew,  Chew's  son  Lawrence  and  his  cousin  Samuel  to  Mrs.  Chew's  lot 
in  Greenwood.     McRee's  calls  professionally  compelled  his  absence. 

On  30th  I  examined  the  record  at  Major  Tucker's,  and  found  that  the 
corner  stone  of  St.  Ann's,  Brooklyn,  (which  church  twelve  of  us  com- 
menced by  loan  of  five  hundred  dollars  each,)  was  laid  March  31,  1824, 
consecrated  July  30th,  1825,  fifty-seven  pews  sold  for  eighteen  thousand 
three  hundred  dollars. 

On  3d  May  the  dreaded  intelligence  came  through  Dudley  March  of  the 
death  of  my  son  Alexander  at  New  Orleans  24th  April,  1847.  The  next 
day  came  Colonel  Totten's  authentic  notice  thereof.  I  wrote  Captain  J.  G. 
Bernard,  who  paid  every  attention  to  the  temporary  interment  at  New 
Orleans,  and  to  send  the  remains  to  my  son-in-law,  P.  Richards,  Esq.,  who 
had  that  day  handed  me  Alexander's  will  and  stock  documents. 

May   14th,  McRee  and  self  to  West  Point,  where  Professor  Weir  and 


256  THE  MEMOIRS  OF 

self  went  to   prove   the    will  before   Surrogate   Borland,   at   Montgomery, 
Orange  County. 

June  loth,  sent  my  record  of  my  wife's  claim  for  seven  thousand  dollars 
on  the  estate  of  her  father  to  James  Henry,  son  of  James,  the  executor. 

June  nth,  Willy  and  I  to  New  York  to  meet  the  remains  of  Alexander 
coming  from  New  Orleans;  met  William  Murphy,  who  came  on,  Alexander's 
servant,  and  who  reported  the  death  of  Alexander  as  peaceful ;  that  he 
read  much  Wilson's  Sacra  Privita  given  him  by  his  mother.  Placed  the 
remains  in  the  receiving  vault  at  Greenwood,  and  on  i6th  interred  the 
remains  in  Twilight  Dell.  Funeral  service  had  been  performed  at  New 
Orleans,  as  Colonel  Bankhead  and  Captain  Barnard  informed  me. 

On  23d  to  West  Point  and  met  Colonel  Totten,  Professor  Mahan  and 
Captain  F.  A.  Smith,  who  each  accepted  a  silver  cup  from  me  in  memory  of 
their  friend  Alexander. 

July  4th  Alexander's  goods  arrived.  Willy  has  Mr.  Weir's  portrait  of 
me,  after  Sulley's  at  We.st  Point,  for  Alexander. 

July  17th.  Extract  from  Rev.  Francis  Hawks'  manuscripts,  of  Hanover 
County,  North  Carolina:  "Cape  Fear,  ist  Oct.,  1759.  Lewis  John  De 
Rosset,  planter  and  of  the  king's  counsel,  and  Receiver-General  revenue ; 
Wm.  Walker,  Sheriff  N.  Hanover,  John  Du  Bois,  Esq.,  Moses  John  De 
Rosset,  M.  D.,  the  uncles  of  Louisa,  and  her  grandfather,  etc." 

July  25th  wrote  to  W.  W.  Seaton  (National  Intelligencer,)  to  commend 
to  the  Secretary  of  the  Navy  to  cause  navy  officers  to  gather  potato  seed  in 
the  gorges  of  the  Cordilleras,  coast  of  South  America,  where  Pizarro's 
army  had  fed  on  that  succulent,  as  Prescott  says. 

August  5th  visited  Judge  Ambrose  Spencer  at  Lyons,  and  took  to  him 
.some  of  Mrs.  Gideon  Lee's  fine  old  port.  The  Judge  was  not  in  good 
health. 

.  August  I  2th  Dr.  David  Drake  of  Cincinnati  visited  us.  He  gave  me  his 
thoughts  on  the  Mississippi  valley,  and  of  deepening  the  channel  at  the 
mouths  of  that  river.  They  are  all  on  record  in  his  report  to  the  United 
States  government. 

Memo.  —  Of  the  grave  stones  sent  by  me  from  New  London  in  the  year 


GENERAL  JOSEPH   GARDNER   SWIFT.  257 

1828  to  Dr.  De  Rosset,  who  had  them  placed  at  the  graves  of  Captain 
James  Walker,  ob.  i8th  January  1808,  ae.  sixty-six,  and  Mrs.  M.  M.  Walker, 
£e.  seventy-two,  ob.  November  1S27.  My  son's,  James  Foster,  at  Washington 
city,  was  set  up  by  mj-  brother  W.  H.  Swift,  March,  1S30,  where  James  died 
1 8th  March,  se.  twenty-four  years. 

August  26th,  the  first  regatta  on  Seneca  Lake  —  seventeen  boats. 

September  13th,  wrote  General  H.  A.  S.  Dearborn  on  potato  rot.  I  had 
observed  its  approach,  and  advised  the  Secretary  of  the  Navy  to  collect 
new  seed  in  South  America. 

October  4th,  Townsend  Harris,  Esq.,  called  on  me  to  enquire  as  to  Pro- 
fessor Webster  of  Geneva  College  and  the  Free  Academ)-.  I  gave  him  my 
opinion  of  Mr.  Webster.  I  gave  my  earnest  advice  to  Mr.  Harris  not  to 
lose  Mr.  Webster  as  superintendent  of  that  new  institution  in  the  city. 

November  15th,  my  brother,  W.  H.  Swift,  arrived  from  his  tour  to  the 
Illinois  Canal.  He  informed  me  that  he  deemed  his  vocations  forbad  his 
remaining  in  the  United  States  Topographical  Engineers,  and  that  he  should 
resign  next  spring.  Conversed  on  my  becoming  a  commissioner  of  light- 
houses, and  which  office  I  expected  to  receive. 

December  6th,  wrote  Geo.  W.  Whistler  at  St.  Petersburg,  on  his  son's 
idea  of  a  steam  machine  shop  at  Charleston,  South  Carolina  —  to  move 
Ross  Winans  in  its  favor. 

December  25th,  Dr.  Fitzhugh,  Mrs.  Tallman,  and  Mrs.  Whitney,  Bell 
and  Willy  at  our  family  Christmas.  The  year  closes  with  all  of  us  in  fair 
health.     Thanks  to  God,  through  Jesus  Christ,  our  Saviour. 

1848.  The  new  year  commences  very  mildly,  but  by  loth  January  the 
thermometer  gets  down  to  four  above  zero. 

January  13th,  sent  to  Mr.  Rose  in  Congress,  evidence  of  Mrs.  Augu's 
just  claim  to  her  pension. 

January  14th,  commenced  a  plan  to  turn  my  twenty-one  acre  lot  into  a' 
cemetery  at   Geneva.     It  will   give  one   thousand  five   hundred  lots,  and 
abundant  alley  way. 

On  15th  accepted  cousin  Samuel  Swift's  offer  of  his  sixteen-acre  lot, 
opposite  my  twenty-one  acre  lot,  for  one  thousand  six  hundred  dollars. 


258  THE  MEMOIRS    OF 

February  5th,  attended  John  Delafield's  lectures  on  agricultural  chem- 
istry, to  the  farmers  of  Seneca  County. 

On  23d  applied  to  the  Navy  Department  for  a  midshipman's  warrant  for 
Clarence  Delafield. 

On  25th  to  Rochester  with  Ellen  Williams;  and  met  at  James  Watts'  my 
aunt  Elizabeth  Delano,  who  informed  me  that  Zachr.  Macy  and  my  grand- 
father, Thomas  Delano,  owned  the  Ouaise  and  Polpi's  farms  on  Nantucket. 

March  9th  sent  rambo  apple  cuttings  to  James  H.  Watts. 

May  1st,  McRee  and  I  to  Greenwood,  and  selected  a  plan  for  Mr.  West 
to  execute  for  Alexander  in  Twilight  Dell. 

May  6th,  Thomas  March  and  I  to  Spring  Brook,  L.  I.,  trouting.  He  and 
I  and  Willy,  on  9th,  examine  steamer  "America." 

May  1 8th,  closed  my  executorship  on  estate  of  Rev.  John  Ireland,  with 
Major  Tucker.  On  19th,  with  Belle,  Willy  and  Jim  Tom  to  High  Bridge, 
and  on  2 2d  home  to  Geneva,  leaving  me  in  the  city,  where,  with  Mrs. 
General  Scott  I  met  Governor  Marcy  at  the  City  Bank. 

May  25th,  General  Scott's  reception  in  the  city,  arriving  from  his  Mexican 
campaign. 

June  1st,  McRee  and  myself  in  the  steamer  "Thomas  Powell"  to  New- 
buro-,  and  to  examine  his  railroad  route,  and  went  to  see  the  old  Nicholl 
place,  (Du  Bois,)  below  New  Windsor. 

June  5th,  to  West  Point  foundry,  and  on  6th  my  marriage  anniversary. 
Examined,  in  McRee's  possession,  Mr.  P.  P.  Hunn's  map  of  the  Minnisink 
patent  lands,  in  which  Louisa,  my  wife,  has  of  the  Du  Bois  lands  two  shares. 

June  7th,  home  to  Geneva;   all  well,  thanks  to  God. 

June  8th,  met  Charles  A.  Williamson  and  Mr.  Eraser  from  Scotland,  of 
the  House  of  Lovat,  and  with  J.  H.  Woods  to  Sodus  Bay,  and  explained  to 
them  the  plan  of  Sodus  Canal. 

June  20th,  gave  Mrs.  Ellct  the  meeting  of  General  Scott  with  Honorable 
Lady  Johnson,  at  Bath,  G.  B.  .She  was  a  Franks  of  Philadelphia,  and  a 
reformed  tory.  Also  the  story  of  Mrs.  Bailey's  (of  Groton,  Ct.)  noble 
conduct  before  Fort  Gri.swoKl  in  the  war  of  the  Reyolution,  and  of  her 
interview  with  President  Monroe  in  181  7. 


GENERAL  JOSEPH  GARDNER  SWIFT.  259 

July  8th,  wrote  general  Scott  on  the  opposition  of  Mr.  Polk  and 
Governor  Marcy  to  his,  the  general's,  prospects  for  the   presidency. 

July  19th,  Dudley  March  on  a  visit  to  Willy,  on  his,  Dudley  March's, 
way  to  his  western  lands.  He  took  two  hundred  and  twenty  perch  out  of 
the  lake  at  Geneva  in  four  hours. 

August  I  St,  my  son  Foster  entered  Geneva  College.' 

August  7th,  Mr.  J.  H.  Woods  introduced  me  to  J.  H.  Wilton,  an 
English  sprig  of  nobility.  I  went  with  him  to  visit  Mr.  John  Greig  at 
Canandaigua.  He  is  a  very  accomplished  man,  but  a  rascal  of  uncommon 
ability,  and  has  been  often  rescued  by  his  family  in  England  from  degra- 
dation and  want. 

August  nth,  Mr.  Irving  and  I  to  a  meeting  of  the  Evangelical 
Knowledge  Society,  much  disapproved  of  by  Bishop  De  Lancy. 

August  22d,  wrote  Dr.  R.  H.  Wood  at  Baltimore  on  General  Taylor's 
reputed  letter,  advising  in  reference  to  the  presidency  that  the  general 
•should  not  write  anything.  On  4th  September  his  reply,  that  he  had  sent 
my  letter  to  the  general. 

September  8th,  Timothy  Tounay  cleaned  out  my  well,  and  found  two 
small  streams  of  water  flowing  in  at  the  bottom,  one  of  ordinary,  the  other 
of  sulphur  water.     I  have  a  slightly  charged  sulphur  spring  in  my  dell. 

September  9th,  the  first  balloon  ascension  at  Geneva.  It  floated  gently 
through  the  air  up  the  lake,  and  came  down  near  Ovid,  some  fourteen 
miles  "as  the  crow  flies." 

September  14th,  Sally  and  I  to  Rochester,  where  was  a  meeting  of  the 
Evangelical  Knowledge  Society.  I  advised  a  published  reply  to  Bishop 
De  Lancy's  objections. 

October  2d,  Chas.  A.  Williamson  returned  from  an  exploration  of  the 
coast  of  Lake  Superior,  and  presented  me  a  map  of  the  same. 

Eraser  of  Lovat  has  his  home  in  Inverness,  Scotland,  at  "  Greysachen," 
i.  e..  Glass  Water.     He  deems  himself  heir  to  the  barony. 

November  7th,  all  my  family  who  vote  gave  theirs  for  General  Taylor's 
electors. 

November  25th,  wrote  to  General  Taylor,  and  recommended  to  his  notice 


26o  THE  MEMOIRS   OF 

General  Gadsden  of  South  Carolina,  formerly  my  aid-de-camp,  who  will 
meet  the  general  in  Washington. 

December  2d,  Mr.  Benjamin,  president  of  the  Chemung  Railroad,  called 
on  me  to  subscribe  for  shares ;  and  took  five  hundred  dollars  of  them. 

December  21st,  sent  to  General  Gadsden  my  publications  in  the 
Rochester  paper  in  his  favor  as  a  member  of  General  Taylor's  cabinet, 
and  sent  them  also  to  my  friend  Seaton  of  the  National  I7itellige7icer. 

1849.  February  6th,  Mr.  Williamson  and  myself  to  see  Mr.  Greig,  on 
the  wishes  of  the  former  to  explore  the  country  to  California,  and  agreed  to 
promote  it  with  our  government.  On  my  return  home  found  Colonel  E. 
R.  Cook  at  my  house,  and  gave  him  an  introduction  to  the  Chemung 
Railroad  Company,  as  an  able  and  trustworthy  contractor. 

February  26th,  Mr.  John  GreIg  and  myself  to  Albany,  at  Congress  Hall. 
We  visited  Dr.  Romeyn  Beck  to  examine  the  presents  of  PIo  Nono  to  the 
academy;  thence  by  Housatonic  Railroad  to  the  city.  Recommended 
General  W.  G.  McNeill  to  the  President,  and  Mr.  W.  R.  Thompson,  son 
of  the  revolutionary  captain  of  artillery  for  the  office  of  United  States 
store-keeper  In  New  York.  Met  General  Scott,  and  conversed  on  his 
relations  to  and  with  General  Taylor  on  Mexican  affairs,  and  I  advised 
peaceable  relations.  Met  Mr.  S.  B.  Ruggles,  and  Messrs.  GreIg  and  Duncan 
on  the  subject  of  reviving  the  Sodus  Canal  to  the  new  administration,  as  a 
route  from  Chesapeake  Bay  to  Lake  Ontario. 

March  9th,  with  C.  H.  Hall  exploring  Harlem  River  with  Mr.  John  Randall, 
one  of  the  best  surveyors  the  country  had,  and  with  reference  to  removing 
the  navy  yard  at  Brooklyn  to  Harlem. 

March  loth,  wrote  Chas.  A.  Williamson  that  the  government  would  give 
him  escort  across  the  country  to  California  with  Colonel  Sumner.  Gave 
John  R.  Johnson  a  free  right  to  build  the  "  Ben  Loder"  .steamer  on  the 
shore  of  my  sixteen-acre  lot,  south  of  my  house. 

March  i2lh,  died  my  friend  Thomas  Morris,  son  of  Robert,  the  revolu- 
tionary financier.     He  and  Mr.  GreIg  were  fellow  students  of  law. 

March  20th,  Judge  Ogden  Edwards,  In  presence  of  C.  H.  Hall  and  Henry 
Weston,  declared  In  their  presence,  and  said  it  was  his  purpose  to  put  on 


GENERAL  JOSEPH  GARDNER  SWIFT.  261 

record  that  on  the  "Life  and  Fire  trials,  1826,"  his  conviction  was  as  judo-e 
that  my  honor  as  a  man  was  not  impugned  by  the  testimony  given  in  that 
court.     See  on  my  files  Judge  Edwards'  letter  to  that  purpose. 

March  26th,  wrote  to  Susan  Shipherd  and  Isabella  Croysdale,  1 15  Suffolk 
street,  city  of  New  York,  about  Arthur  Plnnel's  wife  and  child,  kidnapped 
on  their  arrival  in  the  city  of  New  York  from  London. 

April  1st,  IVLijor  Brown,  J.  P.  Kirkwood  and  myself  on  the  New  York 
and  Erie  Railroad  to  Binghampton,  at  Julius  Adams',  and  next  day  exam- 
ined viaduct.  Cascade  Bridge  and  Susquehanna  Bridge,  and  returned  to 
the  city  on  4th. 

April  5th,  before  a  Master-in-Chancery,  Mr.  Melville,  overhauling  my 
memory  of  Governor  Tompkins'  affairs,  in  settling  of  which,  under 
the  law  of  the  State,  making  me  a  commissioner  with  Edmund  Smith 
and  Thomas  Hyatt  in  1S24  and  1825.  The  master  found  my  memory 
accurate. 

May  6th,  Brother  William's  wife  and  I  go  to  Jones  in  Philadelphia,  and 
there  meet  my  brother.  In  the  evening  I  call  on  Mr.  Helm,  an  Eno-Hsh- 
man,  who  corroborates  the  accuracy  of  my  memory  in  the  Tompkins  matter. 
He  was  a  creditor  of  the  governor.  Met  Hartman  Bache,  and  with  brother 
William  and  wife  on  to  Washington.  Sent  Charles  Williamson  his  papers 
to  move  to  California  with  Colonel  Sumner.  Made  an  essay  to  o-et  Markoe, 
of  the  State  Department,  a  charge  at  some  European  court. 

April  13th,  with  General  Taylor,  and  had  an  intimate  conversation  with 
him  on  his  mode  of  administration,  especially  on  his  mode  of  appointing 
officers,  and,  at  his  request  went  to  see  Mr.  Clayton,  Secretary  of  State,  in 
reference  to  the  consequences  of  the  e.xercise  of  the  appointing  power. 
I  urged  that  it  should  not  be  merged  in  the  functions  of  any  minister;  that 
such  a  procedure  was  unconstitutional,  which  held  the  President  responsible. 
The  President  had  said  that  he  would  be  glad  to  have  me  in  Washington, 
and  asked  me  how  the  patent  office  would  suit  me.  I  replied  that,  with 
the  extensive  acquaintance  I  had,  there  was  no  office  in  Washington  that 
could  enable  me  to  support  my  family  there;  that  although  I  had  some 
income  well  managed  by  a  prudent  and  sensible  wife,  I  could  not  expose 


262  THE  MEMOIRS    OF 

her  to  a  perpetual  necessity  of  saving,  and  there  that  subject  ended  for  the 
time,  and  I  did  not  revive  it. 

April  20th,  my  brother  William  and  myself  dined  with  the  President, 
and  after  dinner  I  conversed  much  with  the  general  on  the  subject  of  his 
relations  with  General  Scott,  and  counselled  peace  between  them.  I 
requested  the  President  to  have  my  nephew,  Julius  Adams,  employed  as  an 
engineer,  but  nothing  resulted  therefrom.  I  saw  that  the  power  of 
appointing  to  office  had  fallen  from  the  President's  hands.  I  left  the  city 
to  return  to  my  home  on  2 2d,  and  on  my  arrival  at  Baltimore  found  my 
friend  Barry's  family  in  distress  by  the  death  of  his  son-in-law.  Dr.  Julius 
Ducatel.  On  my  arrival  in  New  York  27th  April  met  General  Scott,  and 
advised  him  of  my  conversation  with  General  Taylor  in  reference  to  their 
affairs,  and  my  belief  that  he  was  desirous  of  peace  between  them. 

April  30th,  examined  the  Free  Academy  with  my  friend  Professor 
Webster,  its  president.  Saw  evident  results  of  his  good  management  of 
that  institution. 

May  2d  on  my  way  home,  at  McRee's,  in  Newburg,  examined  his  work 
on  that  branch  of  the  New  York  and  Erie  Railroad.  In  the  cemetery  of 
Newburg  I  found  a  red  sandstone  at  the  grave  of  Louisa's  worth)-  aunt, 
Margaret  Du  Bois,  who  died  in  Newburg  21st  March,  1S13,  a;,  sixty- 
seven  years  eleven  months  and  twenty-nine  days.  Her  husband,  uncle 
John  Du  Bois'  grave  was  alongside,  without  any  memorial  stone.  They  were 
an  exemplar)'  pair,  of  conjugal  life,  of  affection  and  piety. 

May  4th,  left  my  son  McRee,  and,  on  board  the  steamer  "  Alida"  met  the 
daughter  of  General  Armstrong,  Margaret,  the  wife  of  Mr.  W.  B.  Astor,  and 
her  son-in-law,  Mr.  Delano,  (a  far-off  cousin  of  mine  whose  mother  was 
named  for  mine,  Deborah),  also  Mr.  Robert  Tillotson,  but  could  not  accept 
their  invitation  to  visit  them  at  that  time  as  they  landed  at  Tivoli.  Arrived 
at  home  finding  my  family  in  health,  thanks  to  God. 

May  iith  came  the  painful  intelligence  of  the  death  of  George  W. 
Whistler  at  St.  Petersburg,  Russia,  on  7th  April,  in  the  service  of  the 
Emperor  Nicholas. 

May  2  I  St,  sent  to  Richard  Derb)-  a  biography  of  his  father-in-law.  Colonel 


GENERAL  JOSEPH   GARDNER  SWIFT.  263 

George  Bomford,  United  States  Ordnance,  whom  I  had  brought  into  the 
army  in  1803  —  a  very  valuable  officer. 

May  24th,  received  accounts  of  the  death,  by  cholera,  of  my  friend 
General  Worth  on  7th  May  in  Texas,  and  also  of  the  death  by  cholera 
of  my  former  friend  and  neighbor  Charles  A.  Williamson,  in  Missouri,  on 
way  to  California,  on  14th  May,  and  on  29th  came  the  account  of  the 
death  of  his  wife  in  Edinburgh,  Scotland,  on  9th  May. 

June  1st,  my  son  James  with  us,  and  a  family  party  to  Clifton  Springs. 
These  waters  had  relieved  my  son  Willy  from  severe  tetanus. 

July  2d,  invited  to  examine  the  Chemung  Railroad  with  its  board  of 
directors,  and  met  my  friend  Benjamin  Armitage  at  Jefferson,  and  com- 
mended him  for  treasurer  of  their  board. 

August  2d,  met  Colonel  John  Livingston  of  Newport  memory,  1800,  and 
at  Ithaca  Charles  Humphrey,  whom  I  had  known  in  Albany  as  the  excellent 
speaker  of  the  State  assembly.  He  had  served  well  in  the  war  of  181 2  as 
captain  in  the  Forty-first  Infantry. 

August  4th,  with  Major  Thompson  S.  Brown,  who  had  accepted  the  office 
of  engineer  to  succeed  G.  W.  Whistler  in  Russia. 

August  2 2d,  letter  from  McRee  on  his  first  son's  birth,  and  another  from 
Mr.  Richards  of  his  third  son's  birth. 

On  22d  a  call  on  me  to  aid  to  pay  the  debt  of  Trinity  at  Geneva. 
I  replied  that  when  those  of  the  congregation  who  had  not  subscribed  to 
build  the  church  had  done  their  part  I  would  do  mine. 

August  25th,  in  the  name  of  the  citizens  of  Geneva  I  advised  Dr.  Wood, 
at  Niagara,  that  they  would  be  happy  to  welcome  President  Taylor  on  his 
route  to  the  East.  I  offered  the  President  the  use  of  my  retired  house. 
He  accepted  it,  but  was  lying  ill  at  the  Falls. 

September  ist,  wrote  Williamina  Williamson  that  I  had  some  very  inter- 
esting papers    of  her   grandfather,  Colonel    Charles  W ,  and  his 

journal  of  a  travel  in  Turkey,  and  of  his  original  oft'er  to  the  Hopes  of 
Amsterdam  to  purchase  the  soil  of  the  territory  of  Ohio,  etc.,  and  that 
those  papers  were  subject  to  her  disposal. 

September    6th,    Dr.    Woods    writes    of    the    increasing    illness    of    the 


264  THE  MEMOIRS  OF 

President,  and  of  the  need  of  going  east  at  once  by  steam  and  lake,  and 
of  abandoning  any  further  meetings  with  his  fellow  citizens. 

The  past  summer,  as  president  of  the  board  of  health  of  Geneva,  we  had 
kept  the  village  pretty  clean,  and  had  generally  good  health. 

September  14th,  sent  McRee  my  ideas  of  an  inscription  for  a  cenotaph 
in  memor)'  of  George  W.  Whistler  in  Greenwood,  on  Julius  Adams'  design, 
now  in  Twilight  Dell. 

October  2d,  sent  to  Colonel  Abert  my  views  of  constructing  a  railroad 
from  the  Mississippi  to  the  Pacific,  through  Texas  and  the  River  Gila,  and 
to  San  Francisco. 

October  14th,  Louisa's  birthday;  Colonel  Totten  came  to  see  her,  and 
to  talk  about  Alexander. 

October  17th,  my  former  deput)-  surveyor  of  the  customs,  Samuel 
Terry,  came  to  see  me  and  urged  his  restoration  to  the  custom  house,  and 
also  that  of  John  Morris ;  two  of  the  most  efficient  and  honest  men  in  that 
service  of  the  United  States.  Joseph  Grime  and  Joseph  Hoxie  joined  me 
in  this  effort  —  not  successful  —  and  got  Terry  the  place  of  assessor  in 
Brooklyn  ;  and  Morris  became  a  merchant. 

November  2d,  Sally,  James  and  I  to  West  Point  foundr)',  and  to  the 
former  residence  of  Captain  Phillipse. 

November  14th,  closing  meeting  of  the  board  of  health  of  Geneva,  and 
all  accounts  settled. 

November  i6th,  for  the  fourth  timed  essayed  to  have  a  bridge  across  the 
ravine  at  the  south  boundary  of  Geneva,  to  extend  in  a  direct  line  the  main 
street.     F'ailcd. 

1850.  My  thoughts  on  this  New  Year  in  reference  to  my  vocation,  that 
has  become  null  b)-  the  omission  of  Congress  to  continue  the  experimental 
construction  of  harbors  on  the  lakes,  and  by  which  those  that  remain 
unfinished  are  rapidly  falling  to  decay.  So  I  must  turn  to  some  other 
employment,  and  accordingly,  on  the  4th  January-  I  went  to  Lyons  to  see 
General  Adams  about  the  revival  of  the  Sodus  Canal  charier.  I  com- 
menced also  to  write  a  History  of  the  Rise  and  Progress  of  Internal 
Improvements   in   the   United  States,   aided   by  the  suggestions  of  S.  B. 


GENERAL  JOSEPH  GARDNER  SWIFT.  265 

Ruggles,  Esq.,  and  commenced  thereon  with  my  son  McRee,  who,  and 
family,  were  with  us  that  day. 

January  i8th.  The  "Ben  Loder"  steamer  commenced  operation  on  our 
lake  at  Geneva,  to  the  head  of  the  lake  ;  a  very  good  progress  in  internal 
commerce. 

February  2d,  my  son  McRee  commenced  to  organize  his  division  of  the 
New  York  and  Erie  Railroad  —  Almond  to  Olean.  On  5th  he  left  us,  after 
seeing  his  brother  Julius,  who  had  just  arrived  ill  with  a  typhoid,  taken  in 
the  service  of  the  New  York  and  Erie  Railroad  at  Piermont.  He  died  on 
the  6th  —  one  of  the  most  unselfish  of  beings.  His  remains  rest  beside 
his  brother  Thomas  and  sister  Charlotte.  His  bearers  his  shipmates,  and  Dr. 
Covin  Gray,  who  was  with  him  at  his  death ;  a  kind  and  benevolent  man. 

February  28th,  had  collected  petitions  from  many  towns  to  revive  the 
charter  of  the  Sodus  Canal,  and  sent  them  to  General  Adams. 

March  21st,  to  Albany  to  aid  in  the  revival  of  the  Sodus  Canal  charter, 
and  before  the  canal  commissioners  heard  the  objections  to  that  canal  irom 
Henry  Fitzhugh,  while  so  many  were  petitioning  to  have  that  canal  route 
opened  to  the  Susquehanna  River.     The  charter  was  renewed. 

On  30th  March,  McRee  telegraphed  me  of  the  sudden  death  of  my  friend 
Thomas  March,  at  Brooklyn.     Hastened  to  Brooklyn. 

April  I  St  the  funeral;  F.  C.  Tucker  and  Joshua  Sands  the  chief  mourners. 
His  two  brothers,  Charles  and  Frank  were  there. 

April  2d,  at  General  W.  G.  McNeill's,  at  the  marriage  of  his  daughter  to 
Mr.  Rhodewald. 

April  8th,  Messrs.  Wainwright,  Tucker,  Oakey  (Wm.,)  renewed  our 
old  club. 

April  27th,  employed  in  gardening  and  improving  my  south  lots  —  about 
forty  acres. 

Received  advices  from  Samuel  Gouverneur  of  the  death  of  his  wife 
Maria,  the  daughter  of  President  Monroe.  Governor  Cales  called  to  see 
me,  and  revived  the  days  of  Mr.  Jefferson  and  Mr.  Madison  at  Washington. 

August  22d,  Foster  and  myself  to  Danville,  and  met  McRee,  and  in  his 
carriage  on  to  Almond  and  Belvidere,  and  revived  old  times  with  Captain 


266  THE  MEMOIRS   OF 

Phillip  Church,  and  on  to  McRee's  residence  at  Friendship,  on  the  New 
York  and  Erie  Railroad.  Examined  McRee's  bridge  at  Phillipsburg;  to 
Cuba  and  Olean,  and  on  2d  September  to  Sonyea  at  Dr.  Dan.  Fitzhugh's, 
and  so  on  to  Rochester,  and  home. 

October  8th,  Clarence  Delafield  arrived  from  McRee's  with  the  distressing 
account  of  Henry  Clark's  death,  by  the  accidental  discharge  of  his 
fowling  piece. 

October  21st,  arrived  Rev.  Dr.  Wyatt  from  Baltimore. 

Measured  my  lot,  one  hundred  and  fifty-one  feet  front  and  three  hundred 
feet  to  the  lake  ;  about  an  acre  and  one-eighth. 

November  2d,  a  law  and  order  meeting  at  Geneva,  self  president,  Major 
Rees  and  John  Delafield  vice-presidents,  to  sustain  the  "Compromise" 
against  the  wild  purposes  of  anti-slavery.  The  evils  of  slavery  not  to  be 
reached  unconstitutionally. 

Memo.  My  orders  as  chief  engineer,  18 14,  to  Lieutenant  D.  B.  Douglass 
and  Lieutenant  Horace  Story,  to  report  to  Major  E.  D.  Wood  on  the 
Niagara  frontier. 

November  13th,  to  Brooklyn. 

November  15th,  the  family  went  to  see  and  hear  Jenny  Lind  at  Terp- 
sicore  Hall.     Mr.  Daniel  Webster  and  Jenny  exchanged  salutes. 

We  also  attended  Mitchell's  astronomical  lectures  in  Brooklyn. 

November  25th,  gave  Malcolm  Douglass  the  resolutions  of  the  Green- 
wood Association,  to  appropriate  two  lots  to  remove  the  monument  to  D. 
B., Douglass,  who  had  recently  died  at  Geneva. 

December  14th,  wrote  the  Secretary  of  State  commending  Francis  B. 
Du  Bois  for  United  States  consul  at  St.  Thomas. 

December  24th,  called  with  Colonel  Murray  on  Hon.  Daniel  Webster,  at 
the  Governor's  Room,  City  Hall,  and  went  with  Mr.  Webster  to  his  room 
at  the  Astor  House,  and  had  a  short  conversation  with  him  on  the  irritable 
state  of  the  southern  mind.  I  said  to  him  that  I  hoped  to  see  him 
President.  His  reply  was  :  "  General,  my  first  wish  is  to  spread  a  desire  to 
have  the  laws  obeyed,  ami  as  to  the  rest,  the  country  will  decide,"  etc. 

December  28th,  met  Mr.  Holford,  the  wealthy  Englishman  who  had  made 


GENERAL  JOSEPH  GARDNER  SWIFT.  267 

a  large  loan  to  Arkansas,  at  Colonel  Murray's.  I  told  Mr.  Holford  that  his 
meeting  with  Henry  Walker  in  Arkansas  was  intended  to  support  his  (Mr. 
Holford's)  claim,  and  not  to  promote  the  evil  of  repudiation. 

The  last  day  of  the  year,  in  a  snow  storm  attended  the  funeral  of  Maria, 
the  wife  of  my  protege  William  G.  McNeill,  on  my  sixty-seventh  birth-day. 
She  was  an  excellent  wife,  mother  and  friend. 

1 85 1.  February  loth,  had  an  explanation  with  Mr.  Samuel  Swartwont 
about  what  he  deemed  a  loan  to  me  of  five  hundred  dollars.  I  considered 
it  as  a  fee  for  my  services  in  promoting  the  improvement  of  the  marshes  at 
Hoboken.  I  repaid  him  the  amount  at  his  request,  he  being  in  many  pecu- 
niary difficulties. 

February  27th,  Louisa,  Sally  and  myself  to  Philadelphia  at  my  brother 
William  H.  Swift's,  and  through  Mr.  Fisher,  had  a  pleasant  meeting  of  my 
old  friends  Biddle,  Cadwallader  and  others,  at  the  rooms  of  the  Philadelphia, 
Baltimore  and  Wilmington  Railroad  Companj^  We  examined  the  college 
of  Girard  and  Laurel  Hill,  and  the  grave  of  my  friend  Ferdinand  Rudolph 
Hassler,  and  his  profile  in  marble  on  the  stone.  At  the  mint  Mr.  Dale 
placed  in  the  hands  of  Mrs.  Swift  an  ingot  of  gold  —  six  thousand  dollars  — 
about  twenty-five  pounds. 

The  middle  of  March  we  returned  to  Brooklyn,  after  having  made  a  run  to 
Baltimore,  and  meeting  Richard  Rush,  Esq.,  Governor  Patterson,  Thomas 
Biddle  and  Governor  Edward  Gales  (at  Willy's  friend  Ingersoll's,  of  the 
navy,)   at  dinner. 

March  iSth,  wrote  an  obituary  of  Major  James  Rees;  of  the  meeting  of 
Washington  and  Robert  Morris  on  the  square,  head  of  Market  Street, 
Philadelphia,  en  route  with  his  army  for  Yorktown,    1781. 

March  25th,  to  Newark  and  Belleville  to  see  my  grandsons  Fitzhugh  and 
Joseph  G.  at  Mr.  Welles'  school;  a  man  of  education  and  talent,  but 
deficient  in  the  common  sense  of  life  as  it  exists.  The  scenes  at  Belleville 
reminded  me  of  Alexander  Macomb  and  myself  there  in  1803  —  shooting 
and  other  amusements,  visiting  Passaic  Falls,  etc. 

March  26th,  with  James  Whistler,  a  cadet,  son  of  George  by  his  second 
wife,  to  West  Point  foundry,  at  Gouverneur   Kemble's,  and    next  day  to 


268  THE  MEMOIRS   OF 

West  Point,  and  introduced  him  to  my  friends  there,  all  of  whom,  for 
the  sake  of  his  father,  took  an  interest  in  James'  success.  Had  an  expla- 
nation from  Captain  Brewerton,  the  superintendent,  that  the  omission  of 
the  name  of  Colonel  Jonathan  Williams  on  Captain  Cullum's  register^ 
■would  be  remedied  in  the  next  edition  by  an  ample  record  of  facts,  etc. 
Returned  to  Brooklyn. 

On  1st  May  I  received  instructions  from  the  Topographical  Bureau  at 
Washington,  to  commence  to  examine  the  position  and  condition  of  light- 
houses on  Lakes  Ontario,  Erie,  Huron  and  Michigan. 

May  9th,  to  New  Haven  to  see  my  nephew,  George  W.  Whistler,  an 
engineer  on  the  New  York  and  New  Haven  Railroad.  Was  much  grati- 
fied by  my  reception  by  his  wife,  the  daughter  of   Dr.  Ducatel. 

May  loth,  returned  to  Brooklyn,  and  with  Louisa  to  Twilight  Dell  in 
Greenwood  the  next  day.  We  had  an  interesting  view  of  the  British 
steamer  "Pacific"  going  down  the  bay  for  Liverpool. 

On  20th  May,  Louisa  and  I  returned  to  Geneva,  and  thence  on  26th  May 
I  proceeded  to  Sodus  Bay  on  Lake  Ontario,  in  the  execution  of  my  instruc- 
tions, and  so  on  to  Buffalo,  up  the  lakes  and  among  the  islands  and  light- 
houses, and  so  on  from  Detroit  through  Lakes  St.  Clair  and  Huron  to  Sagi- 
naw Bay,  and  to  Mackinaw  and  Sheboyagow  in  Wisconsin  Lake,  Michigan, 
and  thus  employed  until  August,  when  I  returned  to  Geneva,  and  sent  from 
thence  my  report  and  plans  to  the  Topographical  Bureau  at  Washington. 

My  son  McRee  visited  me  at  Geneva  to  converse  on  what  had  occupied 
our  previous  thoughts,  a  sojourn  in  Europe,  and  we  determined  to  make  the 
voyage,  etc.  [See  my  journal  of  that  journey  of  McRee's  and  myself,  so 
omit  record  here  until  our  return  in  May,  1S52.] 

1852.  May  9th,  my  family  at  church  and  returned;  thanks  for  the 
reunion  in  health  and  safety. 

May  loth,  I  wrote  Bishop  Hawks  of  Missouri  a  request  to  interest  him- 
self for  the  discharge  of  an  English  youth,  Thomas  Parr,  who  had  left  his 
friends  and  enlisted  in  the  United  States  army,  one  of  whom  came  fellow 
passenger  with  me  from  England  to  seek  the  boy. 

May  I  ith  to  Rose  Valley  and  Clyde,  in  Wayne  County,  with  General  W. 


GENERAL  JOSEPH  GARDNER  SWIFT.  269 

H.  Adams,  to  examine  as  to  what  might  be  done  to  continue  the  general's 
"washings"  to  extend  the  canal  from  Clyde  to  the  head  of  Sodus  Bay. 
Did  not  find  any  difficulty  in  the  route  of  the  canal,  and  it  seemed  strange 
to  me  that  capital  should  be  wanting  to  complete  so  easy  and  cheap  a  work 
to  unite  Lake  Ontario  and  Chesapeake  Bay,  and  open  up  the  vast  resources 
in  that  whole  line.  The  mere  exchange  of  gypsum,  flour,  and  fish,  for  coal, 
iron  and  lumber,  would  sustain  a  fair  profit  to  stockholders. 

Returned  to  Lyons  by  a  farm  owned  by  an  escaped  slave  from  the  South, 
and  considered  what  was  my  duty,  under  the  constitution,  in  reference  to 
breaking  up  this  slave's  farm,  and  concluded  to  be  silent. 

May  30th,  with  Mr.  Greig  on  Sodus  Canal  affairs,  he  holding  large 
interests  in  Wayne  County.  He  was  averse  from  again  entering  into 
that  project.  We  conversed  about  his  friend  Mr.  Watson,  whom  I  had  seen 
in  Edinburgh,  Scotland,  in  reference  to  the  Williamsons'  interests  in  the 
United  States,  and  also  upon  what  both  of  us  had  seen  on  the  continent  of 
Europe. 

June  — ,  corresponded  with  the  Secretary  of  War,  General  Totten,  and 
Major  W.  H.  Chase,  on  the  error  of  introducing  a  foreign  officer  of 
engineers  into  our  own  corps  —  General  Bernard  —  who  had  served  several 
years,  and  became  Secretary  of  War  to  Louis  Philippe  of  France. 

June  19th,  my  friend  Colonel  Thayer  arrived  and  passed  a  few  days  with 
us,  and  then  traveled  West. 

July  6th,  the  remains  of  Henry  Clay  arrived  In  the  cars  from  the  East, 
en  route  for  Kentucky,  escorted  by  Governor  Cass,  General  Sam  Houston, 
etc.  Introduced  Dr.  Fitzhugh  to  them,  and  had  a  brief  conversation  with 
General  Cass  in  reference  to  the  claims  of  Colonel  Abert  to  the  action  of 
Congress,  to  place  him  on  a  par  with  other  useful  officers  in  rank. 

July  14th,  I  wrote  my  distant  cousin,  Edmund  L.  Swift,  of  the  Tower  of 
London,  on  the  prospects  in  the  United  States  for  his  wife,  a  McGregor, 
and  an  highly  educated  lady,  to  establish  an  extensive  seminary  in  the 
United  States,  as  he  was  about  declining  his  office  of  conservator  of  the 
crown  jewels,  etc. 

July  15th,  wrote  to  Barrister  Guest  of  the  Temple,  whom   I   had  met  in 


2  70  THE  MEMOIRS  OF 

England,  and  gave  him  all  I  could  collect  of  what  had  been  done  in  the 
United  States  in  reference  to  codification.  He  soon  after  became  master 
of  laws  at  Cambridge. 

July  26th,  with  my  son  James  and  nephew  Charles  Swift  to  Niagara,  to 
celebrate  General  Scott's  honors  there.  Met  Mr.  John  King  and  Wash- 
ington Hunt,  and  Mr.  Greeley,  the  distinguished  editor.  The  celebration 
was  a  failure.     Also  met  Colonel  Andrews  of  Boston. 

From  29th  September  to  22d  October  attending,  as  witness,  the  trial  of 
Mayor  Lawrence  and  the  Pentz,  and  others,  at  Newark,  New  Jersey,  in 
reference  to  the  houses  that  had  been  blown  up  by  me  at  the  order  of  the 
mayor  at  the  great  fire,  December,  1835. 

General  Scott,  Samuel  L.  Gouverneur,  who  had  married  Miss  Lee  of 
Petersville,  Maryland,  in  Newark. 

In  November  I  wrote,  for  Counsellor  Davies,  a  statement  of  the  gun 
powder  blasts,  and  what  I  deemed  unjust  to  the  owners  of  that  property,  so 
destroyed,  in  a  strict  legal  sense,  and  also  stated  what  I  deemed  a  neglect  of 
my  services  and  exposure  at  that  fire  of  i6th  December,  1835,  while 
England  had  knighted  a  young  engineer  ofticer  for  similar  services  at 
Quebec,  in  Canada,  on  a  much  smaller  scale.  To  determine  how  much 
powder  would  shake  a  house  down  and  not  damage  neighboring  houses, 
was  of  importance  as  a  service.  That  had  been  accomplished  at  every 
house  so  blown  up  at  the  great  fire  of  i6th  December,    1835. 

I  returned  home  to  my  family  in  Geneva,  where  we  had  assembled  at 
Christmas,  eight  of  my  family,  and  two  days  after  McRee  escorted  his 
mother  to  Mr.  Richards',  Brooklyn. 

1853.  On  New  Year's  day  I  arrived  at  Mr.  Richards',  Brooklyn,  to  where 
my  wife  had  preceded  me. 

Januarj'  3d,  Mr.  John  C.  Adams  called  on  me  by  previous  appointment, 
and  I  agreed  to  go  to  Boston  with  him  to  explain  to  the  capitalists  there 
the  whole  system  of  the  Sodus  Canal.  We  arrived  in  Boston  on  4th,  at  my 
brother  William's.  I  presented  the  plan  to  the  bankers,  Thayer  and 
others,  but  they  did  not  enter  with  any  spirit  into  the  subject. 

Februar)'  ist,  George  W.  Whistler  and  m\-self  left  Mount  Vernon   Place 


GENERAL  JOSEPH   GARDNER  SWIFT.  I'Jl 

for  New  York.  I  had  previously  seen  President  Walker  at  Cambridge,  and 
arranged  with  him  for  my  son  Foster,  a  graduate  of  Geneva  College,  to 
enter  Harvard  College  as  a  junior.  On  my  return  to  Brooklyn,  met 
William  G.  McNeill,  very  ill,  on  his  arrival  from  England,  in  the  kind  care 
of  his  mother-in-law,  Mrs.  Camman,  where  he  died  on  i6th  February.  I 
wrote  an  obituary  of  this  distinguished  man,  and  sent  it  to  the  secretary  of 
the  Society  of  Civil  Engineers  in  London,  of  which  society  General  McNeill 
died  an  honorary  member.  He  was  a  person  of  much  talent,  and  com- 
manding and  winning  manner,  and  was  one  of  the  principal  pioneers  of 
railroad  improvements  in  the  United  States. 

March  i6th,  I  shipped  to  Wilmington,  North  Carolina,  a  marble  slab  that 
I  had  caused  to  be  made  in  Brooklyn,  and  wrote  my  namesake,  Swift  Miller, 
a  request  to  see  this  slab  carefully  erected  at  the  grave  of  Mrs.  Smith  in 
"old  Brunswick  Cemetery,  Cape  Fear  River."  The  inscription  is  thus: 
"  In  Memory  of  that  Excellent  Lady,  Sarah  Rhett  Dry  Smith,  who  died 
2 1  St  November,  1821,  aged  59  years.  Also,  of  her  Husband,  Benjamin 
Smith  of  Belvedere,  once  Governor  of  North  Caiolina,  who  died  January, 
1826,  aged  70."     The  slab  was  properly  erected. 

March  20th,  wrote  my  son  Foster  at  Harvard  College,  where  he  had 
entered  as  a  junior,  agreeably  to  the  consent  of  the  faculty;  and  sent  him 
afterwards  a  memoir  of  my  Grandfather  Samuel  Swift,  a  graduate  of  1735, 
that  was  requested  by  some  one  at  Harvard  making  memoirs  of  distin- 
guished graduates  of  old  times. 

March  30th,  gave  Richard  S.  Tucker  my  opinion  of  forty  years'  duration 
in  favor  of  supplying  Brooklyn  with  the  best  of  water,  from  the  brooks 
east  of  the  bridge  that  discharge  themselves  into  the  Jamaica  Bay. 

March  31st,  wrote  to  Colonel  Thayer  upon  the  omission  of  due  notice  of 
Colonal  Jonathan  Williams,  in  the  newly  published  register  of  West  Point, 
by  Captain  Cullum,  to  promote  a  correction  of  that  omission. 

May.  Early  in  this  month  essayed  to  retain  Gold  S.  Silliman,  Esq.,  as 
postmaster  of  Brooklyn  ;  an  excellent  officer  and  worthy  gentleman,  with 
whom  I  had  maintained  friendly  relations  from  the  year  1800  at  Newport, 
Rhode  Island. 


2  72  THE  MEMOIRS   OF 

Met  General  Scott  several  times  this  month  on  the  subject  of  recording 
his  campaigns  in  Mexico.  He  read  to  me  the  first  chapter.  I  deem  it 
well  done. 

May  23d,  kept  the  seventy-second  birthday  of  my  friend  F.  C.  Tucker  at 
No.  I  West  Si.xteenth  Street.  The  age  is  a  matter  of  doubt.  He  and 
General  Scott,  Major  Robert  Anderson,  and  Colonel  James  Monroe  came 
to  see  Mr.  and  Mrs.  Richards  and  Mrs.  Swift  at  Brooklyn,  on  that  day. 

June  8th,  Louisa  and  self  visited  our  friends  General  Adams'  family  at 
Lyons,  on  the  death  of  their  daughter  Jane  in  South  America,  and  of  their 
sons  James  and  Sibley,  all  three  very  intelligent  children.  A  sad 
bereavement. 

June  1 6th,  died  our  friend  George  R.  Lewis  at  New  London. 

June  24th,  to  see  my  friend  John  Greig,  Esq.,  Canandaigua;  failing  in 
health  and  strength. 

In  July  I  was  confined  some  weeks  by  jaundice,  and  expected  to  depart, 
but  by  good  nursing  of  my  wife  and  daughter  so  far  revived  as  to  use 
horseback  exercise,  and  to  receive  the  children  of  my  friend  Charles  A. 
Williamson,  deceased,  to  wit.,  Wilhelmina  and  her  husband  Captain 
Wickham,  of  Thirty-third  Regiment  Infantry  of  the  English  Army,  who  was 
seeking  a  farm  to  retire  upon  in  the  United  States. 

August  1st  I  purchased  a  pony,  and  found  benefit  to  my  health  by 
riding. 

Ferdinand  Hassler  visited  me  to  get  my  memoir  of  his  father,  the  late 
superintendent  of  the  United  States  coast  survey.  Rev.  Dr.  Judd  read  to 
me  his  reply  to  the  high  church  doctrines  about  baptism ;  a  well  composed 
view  of  that  subject,  adverse  to  Romanism. 

The  month  of  Septemlaer  was  noted  for  ague  and  fever  at  Geneva, 
especially  in  the  lower  parts  of  the  village  and  the  flats  bordering  the  lake 
on  the  north,  also  several  cases  on  the  higher  lands ;  my  son  Willy  one  of 
them.     The  treatment  was  quinine,  and  successful. 

October  2 2d,  died  my  friend  John  Delafield  at  Oaklands,  on  the  opposite 
side  of  the  lake,  aged  sixty-seven  years,  a  great  loss  to  the  farming  interests 
of  Seneca  County.     I  directixl  tlie  interment  on  25th  in  our  Geneva  cemetery. 


GENERAL  JOSEPH  GARDNER  SWIFT.  273 

1854.  January  loth  we  celebrated  Bell  and  Willy's  marriage  day,  their 
twenty- first  anniversary,  at  Willy's  Geneva  home. 

January-  30th,  Mr.  Robert  Tillotson  arrived,  and  we  discoursed  of  our 
former  days  in  the  city.  He  described  to  me  the  mode  of  conversion  of 
his  son  to  Romanism,  under  the  auspices  of  Cardinal  W^iseman  and  Mr. 
Newman,  and  of  that  son's  union  with  the  Oratory  at  Birmingham,  in 
England.     So  much  for  the  Puseyism  of  Western  New  York. 

February  2d,  received  from  the  singular  William  Wood,  of  Canandaigua, 
a  present  of  a  view  of  the  Colosseum  of  Vespasian  at  Rome.  He  said  that 
his  life  had  been  passed  without  being  able  to  see  it,  and  that  as  I  had  seen 
it  he  wished  me  to  accept  the  engraving  —  an  old  Amsterdam  production. 

Sent  to  Colonel  Thayer  a  memoir  on  West  Point,  and  to  Mr.  Seaton 
of  the  National  Intelligencer,  a  notice  of  the  United  States  Military  Academy, 
West  Point. 

February  loth,  Mrs.  Swift's  nephew,  James  Walker  Osborne  of  North 
Carolina,  visited  us,  and  also  her  cousin  John  Barrow,  grandson  of  her 
aunt  McLean. 

Sent  my  application  to  government  in  favor  of  Mrs.  Commodore  Angus' 
claim  for  her  late  husband's  back  pay,  etc.,  to  Charles  Abert,  Esq.,  at 
Washington,  to  present  to  Congress.  Wrote  Mr.  Barrow  in  London  how 
to  proceed  to  gain  title  to  the  lots  in  Dock  Street,  Wilmington,  North 
Carolina,  that  belonged  to  Mr.  Barrow's  mother,  Margaret  Du  Bois 
(McLean),  and  to  Henry  McLean,  and  to  Mrs.  Margaret  McLean 
Hatfield. 

March  15th,  Major  Tucker,  Anna  Beck  and  myself  to  R.  S.  Tucker's,  at 
Gowanus,  and  revived  some  of  "the  club"  music  of  other  days. 

March  20th,  Colonel  John  Lind  Smith,  my  useful  and  true  friend,  began 
to  recover  from  a  lonof  confinement  from  a  wound  in  the  eroin,  received  at 
the  battle  of  Cerro  Gordo  in  Me.xico.     A  doubtful  recovery.     Dr.  Buck. 

April  loth,  wrote  Commodore  Morris,  United  States  Navy,  advising  to 
promote  the  use  of  the  old  ordnance  upon  Brown's  statue  of  Washington, 
now  in  progress  for  Union  Square,  New  York  city. 

April    2  2d,  visited  my  friend    Charles   Hoyt    and  wife   and  children   at 


2  74  THE  MEMOIRS  OF 

Norwalk,  in  Connecticut.  He  proposes  going  to  Europe.  Of  doubtful 
benefit. 

July  15th,  my  first  report  to  the  United  States  lightliouse  board,  through 
Colonel  Abert,  for  a  tripod  iron  light  on  South  Shoal  of  Nantucket  —  my 
place  of  birth  —  probably  the  finale  of  my  essays  in  civil  engineering. 

July  2 2d,  my  son  Foster  arrived  at  home.  He  had  graduated  at  Harvard 
College  respectably. 

July  25th,  David  Williamson  and  wife,  the  daughter  of  the  iron  master 
of  Tredegar,  in  Wales,  made  us  a  visit.     The  son  of  Charles  A.  W^illiamson. 

A  long  drouth  this  summer,  and  on  8th  and  9th  September  our  first  rain 
for  three  months.  The  leaves  on  the  trees  so  dry  as  to  rattle  like  wood  in 
sound  when  shaken  by  wind. 

On  1 2th  I  commenced  writing  the  Secretary  of  Navy,  General  Scott  and 
Commodore  Charles  Stewart  on  the  difficulty  of  forming  a  retired  list  for 
the  nav)-,  unless  the  plan  proposed  be  greatly  modified,  to  do  justice  to 
faithful  services  performed. 

On  22d  November  Jose's  child,  Margaret  Weston,  was  born;  named  for 
Mrs.  Cronkhite. 

November  23d  I  attended  a  clerical  party  at  Major  Tucker's,  of  five 
bishops,  fifty  presbyters  and  deacons  and  twenty-five  laymen. 

1855.  At  the  opening  of  this  year  I  began  a  correspondence  with  several 
military  friends  on  the  condition  of  the  country,  and  especially  as  to  giving 
quiet  to  the  South,  where,  under  cover  of  opposing  the  tariff'  and  abolition 
extravagancies  their  real  object,  I  suppose  to  be,  to  perpetuate  and  extend 
slavery  as  a  right  of  the  South.  As  to  the  tariff,  it  is  a  question  in  which 
the  Union  has  interests  as  well  South  as  North,  and  should  be  equalized 
to  meet  those  interests  justly,  and  probably  a  direct  tax  may  accomplish 
much  toward  quiet.  As  to  abolition  —  an  influence  growing  at  the  North  — 
it  is  now  about  one  voter  to  two  hundred.  But  the  South  seems  intent 
upon  ruling  or  breaking  up  the  Union.  My  letters  reviewed  Mr.  Secretary- 
of-War  Davis'  plan  to  subvert  the  existing  army  organization  under  the 
guise  of  an  imperfect  staff.  My  chief  correspondent  being  Colonel  Abert, 
Sent  some  essays  to  the  National  Inielligenccr. 


GENERAL  JOSEPH   GARDNER  SWIFT.  275 

January  6th,  my  application  to  Congress  through  Charles  Abert  succeeded, 
giving  the  widow  of  Captain  Angus  a  pension.  That  lady  sent  me  a  goblet 
and  ring  of  silver  in  token  of  her  acknowledgements.  I  replied  it  was  not 
my  wish  so  to  tax  her  income. 

On  31st  found  the  winter  oppressively  and  unusually  cold;  the  temper- 
ature was  about  as  usual. 

April  nth,  fine  weather.  Mrs.  Delafield  (the  widow  of  John  of  Oak- 
lands)  took  leave  of  us,  having  sold  their  farm  to  Mr.  Fuller. 

April  25,  gave  my  criticism  of  Major  Douglass'  memoirs,  especially  on 
the  war  of  181 2  and  Military  Academy,  to  President  Hale.  Copy  on 
my  files. 

May  23d,  my  brother  and  wife  and  Miss  Eliza  Howard  arrived,  and  29th, 
McRee  consulted  him  about  going  to  Iowa.  On  the  same  day  I  wrote  Mrs. 
Gratiot  on  the  death  of  her  husband,  the  general. 

June  1st,  Sally  designed  a  celebration  of  Louisa's  and  my  fiftieth  anni- 
versary of  our  marriage  6th  June,  on  which  day  twenty-six  of  the  family 
had  assembled  at  Geneva,  and  we  kept  up  the  season  for  some  days. 
Louisa  enjoyed  this  occasion  and  reunion  exceedingly. 

June  14th  I  was  called  to  Lyons  to  the  funeral  of  Mrs.  Adams,  the 
excellent  wife  of  my  friend  General  W.  H.  Adams.  How  close  together 
our  joys  and  sorrows. 

June  30th,  I  replied  to  Daniel  Huntington's  inquiries  as  to  the  belief  in 
General  Washington's  blasphemy,  stating  my  total  disbelief  in  such 
impressions;  that  I  had  conversed  in  my  youth  with  General  Alexander 
Hamilton,  Lieutenant-Governor  Cobb,  Colonel  Trumbull,  Major  Baylies 
and  General  Chief  Justice  Marshall  as  to  the  domestic  and  social  character 
of  Washington,  all  adverse  to  his  having  any  habit  of  using  oaths,  etc. 

July  4th,  attended  the  exhibition  of  Dr.  Reed's  school  as  an  examiner, 
at  Walnut  Hill. 

July  20th,  arrived  my  friends  William  Kemble  and  wife  and  Professor  W. 
H.  C.  Bartlett  and  wife,  from  West  Point,  and  on  30th  Foster's  friend 
Mr.  ,  of  Roxbury. 

August  6th,  Louisa,  for  the  first  time  in  our  married  life,  made  a  visit 


276  THE  MEMOIRS   OF 

abroad  without  me,  going  with  Foster  to  see  Hortense  and  family  at  Avon. 

August  17th,  wTOte  General  Scott  on  the  injurious  tendency  of  Secretary 
Davis'  plan  to  repeal  the  law  of  1802  that  limits  the  detail  of  a  superin- 
tendent of  the  United  States  Military  Academy  to  the  corps  of  engineers ; 
injurious  in  two  material  facts:  extending  executive  power  to  defeat  the 
purpose  of  the  law  of  1S02,  namely,  by  appointing  an  uneducated  person, 
or  a  personal  favorite  to  that  office,  making  the  office  thereby  a  mere 
political  or  party  agent,  and  annulling  the  only  national  institution  in  the 
Union,  save  the  supreme  court. 

August  23d  I  commenced  to  execute  a  design  long  entertained,  to  visit 
my  native  place,  Nantucket,  and  the  residence  also  of  my  father,  neither  of 
which  had  I  seen  for  sixty-three  years.  Arrived  at  Brooklyn  on  29th,  took 
the  cars  for  Springfield  and  met  my  brother  William  and  wife  at  Miss 
Howard's,  and  my  sister  and  self  visited  the  graves  of  my  aunts  Elizabeth 
and  Mary  Swift,  (both  had  been  wives  of  Colonel  Burt  of  Longmeadow.) 
in  which  cemeterj^  both  with  the  colonel  rest. 

On  29th  to  Boston,  and  met  at  the  depot  my  friend  Colonel  Thayer,  and 
with  him  to  Fort  Warren  on  George's  Island,  where,  in  the  year  1841, 
General  H.  A.  S.  Dearborn  and  myself  had  visited  him  in  the  early 
construction  of  that  fort.  I  am  much  gratified  at  the  scientific  aspect  of 
the  colonel's  work.  We  visited  Fort  Independence  also,  and  Governor's 
Island,  where  thirty-eight  years  ago  the  colonel  commenced  his  engineering 
career  as  a  lieutenant. 

September  4th  Colonel  Thayer  accompanied  me  to  Taunton,  the  scene  of 
my  school  day.s,  and  on  to  New  Bedford,  where  the  Colonel  had,  in  1808, 
commenced  a  fort.  We  visited  the  scenes  of  those  days,  the  residence  of 
my  grandmother  Delano,  Clark  Cove,  etc.  The  colonel  w^as  summoned 
back  to  Boston,  and  I  explored  the  scenes  of  my  childhood  in  Dartmouth,  at 
Russell's  Corners  and  Smith's  Mills  at  the  head  of  Pasquemonsett,  where  I 
lived  at  John  Smith's,  Esq.,  while  at  Master  Hart's  school,  and  the  scene  of 
rescuing  a  slave  from  the  hands  of  William  Anthony  in  1791.  I  explored 
the  old  Hathaway  house  near  Russell's  corners,  the  residence  of  my  father's 
family  until  we  moved  to  Taunton,  1792.     I  took  cuttings  from  the  Talman 


GENERAL  JOSEPH  GARDNER  SWIFT.  277 

sweeting  apples  that  I  enjoyed  when  a  child.  Returned  in  my  "horse  and 
chaise"  to  New  Bedford  and  visited  my  cousins  Betsy  and  Nancy,  (Mrs. 
Bennett,)  at  Fair  Haven,  and  on  6th  September  on  board  the  steamer  for 
Nantucket.  My  companions  were  Mrs.  Brayton,  an  acquaintance  of  my 
mother's,  a  ver}^  aged  Quaker  lady,  and  Captain  Matthew  Crosby  and  his 
handsome  wife,  of  Siasconset.  I  recognized  Broat  Point  and  Roach's  old 
store  on  landing-,  and  Delano  Corner,  Hammet's  residence  and  "Wesco  Hill." 
Met  my  schoolmate  Timothy  Hussy,  and  lodged  at  Captain  Stephen  Weet's, 
where  his  daughter,  Mrs.  Clasby,  lived.  The  captain  was  in  his  eighty- 
fourth  year,  had  been  a  friend  of  my  grandfather  Thomas  Delano,  who  had 
lived  at  the  opposite  corner,  my  birthplace,  and  who  died  there  i8th 
November,  1799,  at  the  age  of  sixty-seven.  At  small  cost  entertained  by 
Matthew  Crosby  with  the  old  Nantucket  dish,  corn  pudding.  Met  there 
Franklin  Folger  the  chronologist,  who  gave  me  the  lineage  of  the  Delanos 
and  Swains,  and  how  they  were  the  cousins  of  the  Folgers  and  Coffins.  I 
also  met  the  Mitchells,  especially  Miss  Maria  the  astronomer,  and  what 
with  the  excitement  and  consequent  fatigue  of  examining  every  corner,  I 
became  ill,  and  was  carefully  nursed  by  Mrs.  Clasby,  and  visited  by  Mr. , 
Charles  Folger  and  his  sister  of  Geneva. 

On  17th  I  left  the  beloved  old  island  for  home.  My  son  James  hearing 
of  my  illness  had  gone  to  Nantucket  for  me,  so  we  passed  each  other  in 
the  steamers.  He  followed  me  to  Brooklyn,  where  I  was  joined  at  Mr. 
Richards'  by  my  daughter  Sally.  I  came  from  New  Bedford  to  Fall  River, 
and  thence  by  the  steamer  Metropolis  to  the  city,  finding  Foster  waiting 
my  arrival. 

On  6th  October  Mr.  Richards  accompanied  me  home,  meeting  the 
Kembles  and  Professor  Bartlett  at  Peekskill  and  Garrisons.  We  two 
arrived  at  Geneva  the  next  da}',  and  found  Louisa  at  her  usual  place  at  the 
window  of  the  diningf  room  watching-  our  coming-,  and  receivino-  us  with  her 
habitual  cheerfulness.  I  had  been  at  Brooklyn  seized  with  gout,  much  to 
the  surprise  of  Gouveneur  Kemble,  when  we  met  at  Peekskill. 

November  4th,  Louisa,  Sally  and  I  attended  the  communion.  Louisa 
expressed  great  thankfulness  for  this  reunion. 


278  THE  MEMOIRS   OF 

November  9th,  Louisa  had  some  indisposition  from  cold  supposed  to  be 
taken  in  examining  the  corn  in  the  stable,  thought  by  her  to  be  lumbago. 
On  loth  she  was  languid  and  pale,  though  we  played  at  domino  in  the 
evening. 

November  iith,  Louisa  not  well  enough  to  go  to  church,  but  earnestly 
wished  Sally  and  myself  to  go.  On  13th  McRee  arrived,  and  on  14th 
Louisa  growing  more  111.  In  the  morning  she  joined  our  hands  and 
said  she  was  to  die,  and  at  six  a.  m.  15th,  this  excellent  wife  and  mother 
departed.  On  the  i6th  it  was  deemed  needful  to  inter  the  body.  To  the 
end  of  the  year  the  loneliness  of  my  bedroom,  that  had  so  recently  been  the 
scene  of  Louisa's  early  rising  and  Industry,  was  essayed  to  be  made 
tolerable  by  my  children's  attentions. 

1856.  Januar)',  occupied  much  of  my  time  In  replying  to  Mr.  Birney's 
"  Christians."     See  my  letter  book. 

Middle  of  April,  we  left  Geneva  for  Brooklyn,  and  found  Jose  with  an 
excellent  portrait  of  her  mother  suspended  before  her  bed,  the  work  of  the 
artist,  Daniel  Huntington.  This  and  photographs,  and  the  family  piece  by 
the  same  Mr.  Huntington,  done  by  request  of  Alexander,  (shades  of  a  good 
wife,  mother  and  friend,)  were  mournful  relics. 

July  19th,  I  had  a  unanimous  call  to  preside  at  a  meeting  to  approve  the 
nomination  of  Colonel  Fremont.  On  taking  the  chair  I  announced  that  I 
was  thoroughly  In  tavor  of  preventing  the  extension  of  slavery  Into  the 
territories,  but  not  In  favor  of  meddling  with  slavery  in  the  States  where  it 
existed  ;  that  under  the  constitution  slaves  were  a  species  of  property,  not 
in  the  sense  that  horses  and  oxen  were  property  ;  that  slaves  had  a  species 
of  franchise  through  State  action,  and  thus  far  had  claims  to  personality 
adverse  to  chattelism. 

July  25th,  a  letter  from  the  widow  of  Alden  Partridge,  of  West  Point 
memory,  to  aid  in  getting  his  son  a  cadetship  at  the  Military  Academy. 
I  wrote  to  the  War  Department  and  to  Senator  Foot  In  favor  of  the 
appointment. 

1857.  January  ist,  Mr.  Richards  and  myself,  In  pursuance  of  ancient 
usage,  made  new  year's  calls  In   Brooklyn. 


GENERAL  JOSEPH  GARDNER  SWIFT.  279 

January  12th,  with  General  Scott  in  Twelfth  Street  conversing  on  the 
condition  of  slavery,  and  upon  its  influence  in  the  relations  of  North  and 
South,  and  also  upon  the  Secretary  of  War's  interference  with  the  individual 
rights  of  army  officers. 

Mr.  Edward  Blunt  explained  to  me  the  use  of  Trott's  longitude  chart ;  — 
correct  in  principle,  and  useful  to  within  four  seconds  of  a  degree.  Also  of  the 
American  telescope,  that  it  was  in  all  respects  equal  to  the  Munich  glasses. 

February  9th,  Sally  and  I  to  Boston,  and  at  Springfield  called  on  the 
worthy  Mrs.  Carew,  the  friend  of  my  mother  and  father.  At  Boston  with 
my  brother  William  and  wife  at  No.  6  Mount  Vernon  Place.  The  fami- 
lies of  the  elder  Quincy  and  his  son  very  desirable  visiting  places,  and 
I  enjoyed  them,  and  Dr.  James  Jackson,  and  Mr.  Guile's  and  Mr.  Elliot's 
(Samuel,)  and  Judge  Warren's,  where  we  met  Colonel  S.  Thayer.  The 
Athseneum  a  charming  resort.  At  Mr.  John  Savage's,  to  converse  on  his 
forthcoming  genealogical  work ;  also  the  families  of  Mills.  Examined  the 
Historical  Society  documents  of  Pemberton,  Adams,  Swift,  etc.,  from  1720 
to  1775.  Had  the  pleasure  to  listen  to  Mrs.  Kemble's  readings  of 
Shakspeare. 

March  8th,  visited  my  ancient  maiden  cousins,  Sarah  and  Mary  Swift,  at 
Dorchester,  the  Baker  house,  and  cousin  Sally  Delano  Williams  at  Roxbury, 
and  with  Sally  and  sister  Hannah  to  see  our  cousins  on  Milton  Hill,  and 
the  cemetery,  where  are  fifteen  graves  of  the  Swift  family  and  a  tomb. 
Went  to  see  my  cousin  Fanny  at  Mrs.  Harris',  in  Cambridge,  and 
Roberdeau  at  Charlestown.  Met  Colonel  Thomas  Aspinwall  at  the  Guiles', 
and  Joseph  Grafton. 

March  i6th,  Sally  and  sister  Hannah  and  myself  to  New  York  and 
Brooklyn.  Visited  several  of  the  clubs  there  and  in  the  city  of  New  York. 
Useful  establishments  to  promote  intelligence  and  easy  intercourse.  Mr. 
Richards  and  Mr.  Cronkhite  members. 

On  30th  March  Mr.  Huntington  commenced  my  portrait  for  a  member  of 
an  historical  picture. 

April  6th,  wrote  Dr.  Hawks  on  the  promotion  of  quiet  between  the  North 
and  South  by  his  contemplated  efforts  at  the  South,  in  speaking  there  on 


28o  THE  MEMOIRS   OF 

the  anniversary  of  the  Declaration    of   Independence    at  MeckHnburg,  in 
May,  1776. 

April  14th,  wrote  Mr.  Howe,  of  Brooklyn,  my  opinion  in  favor  of  Mr. 
Kirkwood's  location  of  the  Nassau  water  works. 

April  1 8th,  wrote  the  venerable  Quincy  of  Boston,  and  J.  G.  Wright  of 
Wilmington,  North  Carolina,  upon  the  troubles  growing  up  between  the 
North  and  South,  and  that  non-extension  of  slavery  was  an  essential 
element  of  any  permanent  settlement  to  quiet,  and  that  Mr.  Wright  should 
urge  this  highly  indispensable  principle  at  the  coming  celebration  in  Meck- 
linburg  County  on  20th  May,  to  promote  quiet. 

May  7th,  wrote  General  Totten  and  Colonel  Abert,  United  States  Army, 
on  the  newly  proposed  organization  —  especially  its  staff.  Commended  G. 
B.  Shaw  to  General  Totten  for  an  assistant  engineer. 

May  23d,  died  in  Paraclepta,  Arkansas,  Eliza  Younger  Walker,  the  cousin 
of  Mrs.  Swift  and  wife  of  James  W.  Walker. 

June  6th,  heard  of  the  death  of  my  friend  Thomas  Biddle  of  Philadelphia, 
ae.  eighty,  and  on  this,  my  marriage  day,  found  the  turf  on  the  grave  of 
Louisa  very  fresh ;  Jose  and  Sally  had  placed  many  flowering  plants  there. 

June  8th,  the  steamer  "Loder"  passed  our  house  with  thirty-eight  canal 
boats  "  in  tow,"  and  a  raft  of  lumber  one-fourth  of  a  mile  in  length. 

June  17th,  wrote  the  family  of  the  late  General  J.  De  B.  Walbach  my 
readiness  to  promote  adjustment  of  claims  on  the  United  States.  Heard 
of  the  fate  of  the  Ledyards  in  the  steamer  on  the  St.  Lawrence. 

September  6th,  the  worthy  Henry  Dwight  died  se.  seventy-six,  at  Geneva. 
My  cousins  Fanny  and  Elizabeth  Swift  of  Milton  visited  us,  and  brought 
with  them,  for  me,  the  family  arms  that  had  been  brought  from  Rotherham 
in  England,  1630,  by  our  ancestor,  Thomas  Swift  of  Dorchester,  son  of 
Robert  of  Rotherham. 

In  October  I  wrote  General  Scott  my  impressions  of  the  vulgar  assault 
upon  his  Mexican  services  by  General  Pillow,  and  of  the  utter  improba- 
bility of  making  any  impression  upon  the  public  mind  unfavorable  to 
General  Scott. 

October   12th,  wrote  to  the  ordnance  department  upon  a  hemispherical 


GENERAL  JOSEPH  GARDNER  SWIFT.  28 1 

empty  shell  opening  by  a  hinge,  being  placed  in  the  bore  of  a  cannon  or 
mortar  before  the  cartridge,  and  opened  by  explosion,  so  as  to  prevent 
windage. 

In  November  I  wrote  to  the  canal  commissioners  that  great  damage  was 
occurring  to  the  banks  of  Seneca  Lake,  by  the  obstructions  placed  in  the 
outlet  at  Waterloo,  in  the  process  of  what  is  commonly  called  "  piling  of 
water,"  /.  c.  back  water,  and  referring  them  to  the  facts  on  Clyde  River,  near 
Lyons,  for  similar  effects,  and  to  experiments  in  France  to  sustain  my 
opinion. 

1858.  In  February  wrote  my  cousin  Fanny  Swift,  of  Milton,  for  a 
transcript  of  the  inscriptions  on  the  grave  stones  of  the  fifteen  graves  there 
of  our  family. 

February  i8th,  my  cousin  Henry  Delano  of  New  Hampshire  with  us. 
He  informed  me  of  the  death  of  his  mother,  Elizabeth  Hamet  Delano,  on 
3d  of  this  month,  se.  seventy-eight  years. 

April  24th,  my  grandson  Fitzhugh,  failing  to  receive  a  cadetship,  went  to 
sea  "before  the  mast "  in  the  ship  "  Amaranth "  for  Australia,  from  New  York. 

April  1 2th,  Joseph  Fellows  and  myself  attended  the  funeral  of  John 
Greig,  Esq.,  of  Canandaigua,  who  died  on  9th  April,  ae.  seventy-eight, 
leaving  a  fortune  acquired  in  the  United  States  to  his  relations  in  Scotland, 
after  ten  thousand  dollars  a  year  for  life  to  his  wife. 

May  8th,  a  beautiful  day.  Sally  aided  me  in  surveying  my  forty-acre 
lot  south  of  the  town. 

June  iith,  my  cousins,  the  Pattens,  visited  us.  I  gave  them  my  certifi- 
cate of  my  knowledge  of  a  portrait  of  Washington  by  the  elder  Peale, 
after  the  "Battle  of  Princeton,"  painted  by  the  consent  of  Washington  for 
my  uncle  Jonathan  Swift  of  Alexandria,  where  in  1804,  and  onward,  I  saw 
it,  and  my  uncle  gave  me  its  history  as  above. 

July  5th,  wrote  General  Scott  that  the  widow  of  his  companion  in 
imprisonment  in  Quebec,  Major  Van  de  Venter,  wished  his  aid  to  secure  a 
pension  for  her  husband's  just  claims. 

July  loth,  received  a  present  of  charts  of  United  States  and  South 
America   from   G.  W.  and   Edward   Blunt. 


2  82  THE  MEMOIRS    OF 

July  14th,  in  correspondence  with  the  adjutant-general,  Samuel  Cooper, 
and  sent  him  files  of  army  memoir.      1800  to  18 13. 

August  5th,  arrived  the  report  of  a  successful  laying  of  the  cable 
from  Newfoundland  to  Valencia  in  Ireland,  one  thousand  seven  hundred 
miles,  greatest  depth  six  thousand  feet,  and  of  a  message  between  \"ictoria 
and  the  President  of  the  United  States  going  by  that  cable  both  ways. 

September,  the  comet,  of  unusually  brilliant  aspect  in  the  western  sky. 
Query:  Is  it  that  which  Professor  Hassler  and  Colonel  Williams,  Mr. 
Garnett  and  the  officers  at  West  Point  observed  in  this  month  in  1807  ? 

September  26th,  wrote  General  Webb  of  my  purchasing,  as  United  States 
agent,  Sandy  Hook  in  1820,  for  twenty  thousand  dollars,  and  proposing 
that  the  dispute  between  New  York  and  New  Jersey  be  settled  b)-  the 
United  States  granting  a  site  there  for  an  hospital.  Also  sent  Colonel 
Webb  the  facts  of  the  Brooklyn  water  line  in  1835  '>  that  my  map  and 
report  had  been  secretly  taken  from  the  archives  of  the  city  of  Brooklyn  ; 
of  the  line  as  adopted  by  the  then  common  council,  and  of  the  infringe- 
ments on  that  line  by  lot  owners. 

November  3d,  visited  Twilight  Dell  in  Greenwood.  Sally  and  I  attended 
the  singing  of  Picolomini  at  the  Athseneum. 

November  4th,  Colonel  J.  L.  Smith  and  Major  W^  H.  Chase  and  wife, 
and  adopted  child,  visited  us.  We  had  a  conversation  on  the  great 
question  of  slavery  and  its  tendency.  Chase  a  southern  mind  on  that 
matter;  Smith  silent.  He  had  made  free  his  si.xteen  slaves,  and  sent  them 
to  Liberia. 

On  8th  November  Colonel  Smith,  Mr.  Cropsey  and  myself  take  the  rail- 
cars  at  Green  Point  to  Flushing,  and  thence  by  carriage  to  Willet's  Point, 
examining  the  plan  for  the  fort  for  that  site,  and  then  crossed  over  to  the 
cooperating  Fort  Schuyler.  The  Colonel  and  I  had  some  conversation  on 
his  making  a  will.  He  said  he  had  no  existing  relative  on  earth  to  his 
knowledge.  He  and  myself  thence  to  Harlem,  and  thence  by  steamer  to 
the  city.  The  colonel  though  cheerful,  and  as  ever,  entertaining  in  his 
remarks,  is  much  reduced  in  strength  of  body,  and  his  appetite  small. 

November  9th,  with  J.  P.  Kirkwood  and  Captain  Green  inspecting  the 


GENERAL  JOSEPH  GARDNER   SWIFT.  283 

Nassau  water  line  on  Long  Island,  and  on  12th  inspecting  the  beginnino-s 
of  the  Central  Park  of  the  city  of  New  York,  and  the  foundation  of  the 
large  water  reservoir  therein. 

November  19th,  an  interesting  dinner  party  at  B.  D.  Silliman's.  Professsor 
Leiber,  Dr.  G.  W.  Bethune,  Daniel  Lord,  Esq.,  Mr.  Izard  and  iNIr.  Prino-le 
from  South  Carolina,  Mr.  Pierrepont,  Mr.  G.  S.  Silliman,  the  father  of  B.  D. 
Silliman.  The  constitutional  aspects  of  slavery  the  subject  of  discourse, 
and  the  prospects  of  trouble  between  the  South  and  the  North  sections. 
The  fact  that  the  North  can  never  submit  to  an  extension  of  slavery  into 
the  territories  admitted,  save  by  the  gentlemen  from  South  Carolina;  and 
Mr.  Lord,  a  ver>'  clever  man,  seemed  to  be  of  opinion  that  the  constitution 
contemplated  support  to  slavery. 

November  27th,  in  reply  to  a  letter  from  P.  S.  Sanger  of  Washington,  on 
the  subject  of  removing  the  dead  from  one  cemetery  to  another,  relied  on 
him  to  advise  me  what  had  been  done  with  those  of  my  son  James  Foster 
Swift  and  the  grave  stones ;  said  son  having  been  buried  in  the  cemetery 
north  of  the  President's  mansion  in  March,  1830.  Removed  to  a  new 
cemetery. 

December.  Early  in  this  month  INIajor  Chase  and  Captain  Barnard 
advised  me  of  the  increasing  illness  of  the  best  friend  I  ever  had.  Colonel 
John  L.  Smith.     I  wrote  Colonel  Thayer  and  General  Gadsden  of  it. 

December  13th,  the  colonel  died  very  peacefully  at  Mrs.  Ellen  Robin- 
son's boarding  house,  64  Amity  Street,  New  York  City,  at  the  age  ot 
about  seventy  years.  A  will  could  not  be  found,  and  the  assets  in  the 
Leather  Manufacturers'  Bank  went,  with  his  library  and  other  things  at 
Fort  Schuyler,  into  the  hands  of  the  city  administrator.  Buried  at  West 
Point  on  i6th.  At  Christmas  we  heard  of  the  safe  arrival  of  Mrs.  De 
Lancy  and  the  bishop  in  England. 

1859.  Januar)-  4th,  wrote  the  chief  engineer  of  the  United  States  that  a 
will  of  the  late  Colonel  J.  L.  Smith  might  be  found  among  the  papers  of 
the  late  General  James  Gadsden,  of  Charleston,  South  Carolina,  an  intimate 
friend  of  Colonel  Smith's,  and  to  whom  I  knew  that  Colonel  Smith  had 
sent  money  to  aid  a  friend  of  his  mother's. 


284  THE  MEMOIRS   OF 

In  this  month  I  commenced  a  correspondence  with  Colonel  Delafield  and 
Governor  Morgan,  to  induce  the  Legislature  to  permit  the  property  of 
Colonel  Smith  to  be  expended  in  constructing  and  endowing  a  school  at 
West  Point,  in  memory  of  Colonel  Smith.  The  judiciary  committee 
reported  adversely. 

January  14th  came  accounts  of  Jose's  being  very  ill.  Sally  went  to  her. 
The  dear  child  declined  rapidly  and  died  on  i6th,  and  was  interred  in 
Twilight  Dell  at  Greenwood. 

April  19th,  wrote  Josiah  Ouincy  my  impression  of  his  Life  of  John  Ouincy 
Adams,  that  Mr.  Ouincy  had  sent  me ;  that  it  was  an  instructive  volume, 
and  remarkable  for  what  had  been  omitted  as  to  John  Ouincy  Adams'  early 
and  long-continued  Federalism,  and  abandonment  of  its  principles;  and 
also  upon  our  prospects  nationally;  and  that  the  growth  of  cotton  in  the 
East  Indies,  etc.,  would  so  depress  the  value  of  slaves  as  to  convince  the 
South  that  labor  paid  for  would  be  more  profitable  than  slave  labor. 

April  23d,  the  most  severe  snow  storm  of  the  year.  It  moderated  soon 
after  and  swallows  appeared  30th,  and  May  opened  most  gently. 

July  4th,  sold  my  out-lots,  about  forty  acres,  to  Dr.  Reed  for  three 
thousand  dollars. 

July  15th,  my  brother  William  and  wife  passed  a  week  with  us,  and  we 
had  pleasant  conversations  of  our  respective  visits  to  Europe.  William 
bought  a  fine  picture  in  Italy,  —  a  St.  Cecilia. 

September  i8th,  Mr.  Richards  and  his  brother,  Dr.  Wolcott  Richards,  go 
to  South  Hampton,  England,  in  the  Arago. 

On  30th  I  requested  the  Secretary  of  the  Interior  to  send  me  my  land 
warrant.  McRee  had  it  located  in  Nebraska  on  the  Rolling  Fork  of  the 
Wolff  River,  by  Mr.  Everett. 

October  14th,  arrived  our  new  bell  for  Trinity  ;  gave  twenty-five  dollars 
on  this  birthday  of  Louisa. 

At  Christmas  —  Willy,  Belle,  Lizzy,  James,  Joseph  G.,  Joseph  S.,  Tony, 
Maggy,  Sally  and  m\self. 

i860.  As  my  family  had  not  gone  to  Brooklyn  in  the  jjast  fall,  and  Mr, 
Richards  was  in  Europe,  leaving  Tony  and  Maggy  with  .Sally  and  myself  to 


GENERAL  JOSEPH  GARDNER  SWIFT.  285 

pass  the  winter  in  Geneva,  it  gave  me  plenty  of  time  to  reflect  on  the 
aspects  of  our  country,  that  were  growing  in  anxiety ;  and  yet  I  have  hopes 
that  events  may  assuage  the  evils  of  meddling  with  the  compromise  line  of 
36°  north  latitude.  The  great  object  now  being,  as  it  appeared  to  me,  to 
impress  the  South  that  an  essay  at  secession  would  be  ultimately  defeated, 
and  that,  therefore,  going  out  of  the  Union  would  be  far  more  detrimental 
to  southern  interests  than  could  be  brought  about  by  tariffs  or  abolition 
societies;  and  that  the  great  desire  of  the  South  to  maintain  political  rule 
must  be  defeated  by  the  natural  progress  of  northern  population.  In 
furtherance  of  these  views  I  cooperated  with  my  fellow  citizens  of  Geneva 
of  the  Whig  name,  and  presided  at  several  of  their  meetings:  commencing 
with  a  declaration  of  my  creed,  namely,  not  to  countenance  any  interference 
with  slavery  in  the  States  as  protected  by  the  constitution,  but  to  oppose 
every  species  of  extension  of  slavery  into  the  United  States  Territories  ; 
because  if  such  extension  was  tolerated  slavery  would  become  the  basis  of 
our  government,  and  the  consequence  of  such  a  government  would  be 
laziness  of  slave-owners  and  a  descending  scale  of  public  and  private 
morals,  and  thus  a  ruin  to  free  institutions,  for  a  free  government  can  only 
be  maintained  by  mental  activity  and  bodily  industry. 

Early  in  the  month  of  March,  Mr.  Richards'  letters  from  Rome  advised  us 
of  the  death  of  Mr.  J.  P.  Cronkhite  in  that  city,  and  of  his  interment  in  the 
Protestant  cemetery  there.  Mr.  Richards  and  his  brother,  and  the  wife  of 
Mr.  Cronkhite  were  with  her  husband  at  his  death. 

On  6th  November  I  voted  for  electors  to  elect  Abraham  Lincoln  President, 
not  that  I  deemed  Mr.  Lincoln  to  possess  equal  talents  with  Edward  Everett, 
though  Mr.  Lincoln's  speeches  in  Illinois  adverse  to  the  policy  of  Mr. 
Douglass  evinced  a  strong  common  sense;  and  I  deemed  the  Bell  and 
Everett  ticket  favorable  to  too  great  a  sacrifice  of  northern  ability  to  prevent 
disunion.  Immediately  after  voting  I  proceeded  to  the  cars,  and  arrived 
the  7th  at  Brooklyn.  On  our  arrival  at  the  Delavan  we  received  the  first 
telegraph  reports  of  Mr.  Lincoln's  success. 

November  8th,  called  on  General  Scott,  (with  whom  was  Colonel 
Thomas,  the  assistant  adjutant-general,)  in  Twelfth  Street.     Conversation 


2  86  THE  MEMOIRS  OF 

at  once  commenced  on  the  purposes  ol  the  South.  The  general  haei 
written  to  a  host  of  acquaintance  of  his  in  every  Southern  State  his  views  of 
the  destructive  consequences  of  secession.  Ke  expressed  great  fear  that 
the  earnest  advice  he  had  given  in  the  past  month  of  October  to  President 
Buchanan,  to  arm  and  furnish  every  fort  at  the  South,  had  been  totally 
neglected. 

Before  20th  November,  South  Carolina  raised  the  palmetto  flag,  Virginia 
was  summoned  to  an  extra  legislative  session,  and  Major  Anderson  had 
been  sent  to  relieve  Colonel  Gardner  at  Fort  Moultrie. 

At  the  meeting  of  Congress  I  was  astonished  by  the  tone  of  Mr. 
Buchanan's  message,  denying  power  in  the  executive  to  avert  the  action  of 
secession. 

On  14th  December  Governor  Cass  resigned  the  Department  of  State,  a 
position  he  had  filled  during  all  the  strange  acts  of  the  Secretary  of  War 
and  Secretary  of  the  Treasury,  and  must  have  seen  some  of  the  purposes 
of  these  men. 

December  20th,  South  Carolina  essays  secession. 

On  26th  Major  Anderson  leaves  Moultrie  and  occupies  Sumter,  with 
one  hundred  and  eleven  men. 

I  received  several  letters  from  Major  \V.  H.  Chase  on  the  fine  prospects 
of  the  South  in  forming  a  new  confederacy.  I  replied  in  November  that  it 
would  be  better  to  know  what  they  were  doing  at  the  South  before  going  to 
extremes,  and  that  he.  Chase,  being  a  Boston  boy  would  find  that  the  South 
would  not  trust  him  as  "one  to  the  manor  born." 

1 86 1.  January.  After  various  consultations  with  Major  f.  G.  Barnard 
and  others,  I  selected  a  syenite  from  Mr.  Edwards'  marble  factory,  (it  came 
from  Aberdeen,  in  Scotland,  and  cost  seven  hundred  and  seventy-two 
dollars,)  for  a  monument  at  West  Point  to  the  memory  of  Colonel  John 
Lind  Smith.  This  was  done  under  the  decree  of  the  surrogate  of  New 
York,  giving  to  my  discretion  one  thousand  dollars  for  the  purpose,  and  on 
7th  May  I  had  it  at  West  Point  set  up  in  the  cemetery  there,  and  advised 
Mrs.  Elizabeth  Gray  of  Dundee,  N.  B.,  of  my  course  in  this  matter.  My 
.grandsons  Joseph   S.   and   Huntington  accompanied   me.     We  were   hos- 


GENERAL  JOSEPH   GARDNER  SWIFT.  287 

pitably  received  by  Professor  \V.  H.  C.  Bartlett,  and  at  Mr.  Kemble's 
and  Parrot's,  at  West  Point  foundry. 

May  1st,  I  addressed  a  letter  to  Jefferson  Davis  on  the  strength  of  being 
his  early  commander,  and  urging  on  him  my  reasons  why  he  could  not 
succeed  in  breaking  up  the  Union.  I  sent  the  letter  for  the  perusal  of 
President  Lincoln,  and  to  be  forwarded  by  the  Postmaster-General,  so  as  to 
avoid  the  aspect  of  corresponding  with  traitors  in  an  improper  way.  I  also 
urged  Mr.  Davis  to  use  the  influence  of  his  position  to  molify  his 
coadjutors,  and  promote  a  quiet  return  to  the  Union.     See  my  letter  book. 

While  at  West  Point  I  wrote  President  Lincoln  on  the  character  of 
Thayer,  Mansfield,  Lee  and  others  as  capable  general  officers,  especially 
W.  H.  C.  Bartlett,  and  also  upon  the  importance  of  having  West  Point 
under  the  superintendence  of  one  as  nearly  like  Thayer  as  might  be 
found.     See  my  letter  book. 

June  14.     Digestion  attended  with  nausea  and  vertigo. 

\vi  the  past  summer  I  met  at  Commodore  Craven's  in  Geneva,  Mrs. 
Farquhar  of  Pottsville,  in  Pennsylvania  —  quite  a  traveler.  This  lady  said 
to  me  that  she  had  met  a  cousin  of  mine  at  Aix-la-Chapelle  who  had  been 
the  conservator  of  the  crown  jewels  in  the  tower  of  London,  who  p^ave 
to  Mrs.  Farquhar  the  circumstances  of  my  meeting  this  gentleman,  Sir 
Edmund  Leuthal  Swifte,  and  of  the  interview  between  myself  and  the 
yeoman  of  the  guard  who  had  mistaken  me  for  Sir  Edmund,  and  who  had 
pointed  out  to  me  the  residence  of  Sir  Edmund  in  Ann  Bolen's  Tower, 
1851-1852,  as  is  mentioned  in  my  journal  of  my  travels  in  England,  etc. 
Another  of  the  curious  coincidences  of  life  in  human  affairs. 

From  the  arrival  of  General  Scott  from  France  in  December,  1861,  I  was 
with  him  frequently  in  conversation  upon  the  passing  events  of  our 
unhappy  rebellion,  until  — 

1862.  April  15th,  when  he  went  to  his  home  at  Hampton,  in  Elizabeth- 
town,  N.  J.,  where  1  joined  him  on  17th,  and  remained  most  of  the  time 
until  1st  of  June,  when  he  went  to  Cozzens'  charming  hotel  below  West 
Point,  and  I  went  to  visit  my  friends  at  the  Point  and  at  West  Point 
foundr)',  at  Mr.  Parrott's,  enjoying  theirs,  and  Gouverneur  Kemble's  and 


288  THE  MEMOIRS   OF 

William's  hospitality,  and  at  Mr.  Parrott's  had  at  dinner  a  warm  discussion 
with  the  Russian  ambassador  on  the  condition  of  my  country  ;  he  sorrowing 
for  our  downfall,  and  I  denying  the  need  of  his  sorrow. 

In  the  course  of  the  summer  my  son  Foster  and  Miss  Alida  Fitzhugh 
had  fixed  on  29th  October  for  their  marriage  at  Geneseo,  where  both 
families  assembled  under  the  hospitality  of  Mrs.  Bachus  and  Mrs.  Brent, 
and  Mr.  Ayrault,  with  my  late  wife's  cousin,  Rev.  John  C.  Du  Bois  of  St. 
Croix.  Both  families  met  at  the  church,  and  the  marriage  was  celebrated 
by  the  Rev.  Mr.  Ayrault,  brother-in-law  of  the  bride,  and  Rev.  Mr. 
Du   Bois,  cousin   of  the  groom. 

In  the  year  1S61  my  son  Foster,  in  the  spring,  volunteered  as  a  surgeon 
in  the  8th  New  York  Regiment,  and  proceeded  to  Annapolis  and  Wash- 
ington, and  on  21st  of  July  was  in  the  battle  of  Bull  Run  in  Virginia  — 
a  defeat  of  both  armies.  Foster  deemed  it  his  duty  to  remain  with  the 
wounded  in  the  field  and  hospital,  a  prisoner;  was  sent  for  by  Beauregard 
and  parolled,  and  sent  to  Richmond,  thence  to  Old  Point  Comfort  and 
thence  home,  and  has  not  been  exchanged  until  the  day  of  writing 
this,  December,    1862. 

1863.  I  had  proposed  to  comment  on  the  strategy  of  this  war  of  rebellion 
in  my  diary,  but  the  gazettes  and  the  monthly  journals  so  abound  in  knowl- 
edge of  what  should  have  been  done,  and  what  left  undone,  that  I  will  refrain 
from  remark  save  recording  that  I  deem  the  yielding  to  party  what  belonged 
to  the  country  (which  has  distinguished  the  States  of  New  York  and  New 
Jersey)  as  lamentable  evidences  of  want  of  patriotism.  The  anomalous 
interview  between  politicians  and  the  English  ambassador  being  among  the 
most  prominent  of  errors. 

1864.  We,  after  casting  our  votes  on  8th  November  for  Mr.  Lincoln, 
took  the  cars  on  9th,  and  arrived  at  No.  70  Eleventh  Street  on    10th. 

On  30th  December  my  brother  William  H.  and  myself  attended  the 
funeral  of  our  cousin.  Dr.  William  Swift,  United  States  Navy,  at  the  doctor's 
house  No.  1 2  Carroll  Place,  Brooklyn.  The  doctor  died  of  heart  disease 
at  the  age  of  eighty-five  years,  a  worthy  man  and  a  good  officer.  He 
had  been  while  surgeon  in  the  United  States  Navy  our  consul  at  Tunis, 


GENERAL  JOSEPH  GARDNER  SWIFT.  289 

Africa.  He  left  a  competence  to  his  wife,  an  amiable  and  intelligent 
woman,  and  three  nice  young  sons. 

December  31.  My  son  James  Thomas  gave  me  my  birthday  dinner;  all 
my  family  there  save  Willy's,  including  two  Misses  Weston  and  General 
Scott  and  General  Anderson.     A  nice  party. 

1865.  January  4th,  attended  with  General  Scott,  General  Anderson,  Mr. 
John  Travers  and  others,  as  pall-bearers,  the  funeral  of  Mrs.  Margaret  C. 
Kemble,  the  wife  of  William  Kemble,  Esq.  This  excellent  lady  died  at 
the  age  of  sixty-eight  years,  forty-two  of  which  she  had  been  intimate  in 
my  family.  Mrs.  Kemble  combined  many  qualities  of  heart  and  mind  that 
made  her  dear  to  her  family  and  to  a  long  list  of  acquaintance. 

January  7th,  I  wrote  to  Miss  Susan  M.  Quincy,  of  Boston,  on  the  death 
of  her  father,  Josiah  Quincy,  at  the  age  of  ninety-three  years  —  a  useful  and 
valuable  citizen  in  many  stations  —  as  member  of  Congress  and  president  of 
Harvard  College,  etc.  I  also  mentioned  to  Miss  Quincy  that  Mrs. 
Sigourney  had  sent  to  me,  as  a  memorial,  a  letter  to  herself  from  Mr. 
Quincy. 

On  24th  January  I  wrote  to  the  President  of  the  United  States  on  the 
miserable  policy  of  retaliating  upon  the  Confederate  prisoners  at  Beaufort, 
South  Carolina;  and  alluded  to  a  substitute  by  confiscating  rebel  land  and 
other  rebel  property,  in  favor  of  southern  men  who  had  not  voluntarily 
aided  the  rebellion,  and  also  in  favor  of  aid  to  the  slaves  of  such  men ;  and 
that  the  whole  subject  might  be  embraced  in  a  war  proclamation,  to  meet 
the  Confederate  plan  of  arming  their  slaves  to  battle  against  the  Union. 

On  3 1st  January  I  wrote  again  to  President  Lincoln  on  the  subject  of  the 
treasonable  talk  in  this  city  of  New  York  in  favor  of  southern  independ- 
ence, and  expressing  my  hope  that  the  subjects  of  treason,  habeas  corptcs, 
State  rights,  tenure  of  civil  office  and  executive  power  might  be  amended 
in  the  Constitution  before  the  advent  of  peace. 


290  THE  MEMOIRS  OF 


The  writer  of  this  journal  died  at  Geneva,  western  New  York,  July  23d,  1865, 
and  his  remains  rest  in  the  family  plot  there,  marked  by  a  monument  with  the 
following  inscription : 

JOSEPH  GARDNER  SWIFT, 

Son  of  Foster  and  Deborah  Swift, 

Born  Nantucket,   Mass.,   Dec.   31,    1783. 

Died  Geneva,  New  York,  July  23,  1865, 

First  Graduate  of  the  U.  S.  Military  Academy, 

West  Point. 

Chief  Engineer  U.  S.  Army  1812. 

Brevetted  Brigadier  General  18 14. 

In  the  "Biographical  Register  of  the  Officers  and  Graduates  of  the  United  States 
Military  Academy,"  by  General  Cullum,  is  the  following  record : 

"GRADUATES  OF  1802. 

"I.     (Born,  Mass.)         Joseph  G.  Swift.         (Apd.  Mass.) 

''Military  History.  —  Cadet  of  the  United  States  Military  Academy  from  May 
12,  1800  to  October  12,  1802,  when  he  was  graduated  and  promoted  in  the  army  to 

Second  Lieutenant  Corps  of  Engineers,  Oct.  12,  1802. 
Served  as    superintending    engineer    of   the   construction    of   Fort  Johnson,   North 
Carolina,  1804-6;  at  the  Military  Academy,    1807;   as  superintending  engineer  in 
the  erection  of  Governor's 

(First  Lieut.  Corps  of  Engineer  Jan.  1 1,  1805.) 
(Capt.  Corps  of  Engineers  Oct.  30,  1806.) 
Island  batteries,  Boston  Harbor,  Mass.,  and  in  general  supervision  of  the  defences 
of  the  northeastern  coast,  1808-10; 

(Major  Corps  of  Engineers  Feb.  23,  1808.) 
as  superintending  engineer  of  the  fortifications  of  the  Carolina  and  Georgia  harbors, 
1810-12;   in  the  war    of    1812-15   with  Great   Britain,   as   aid-de-camp  to   Major- 
General  Pinckney, 


GENERAL  JOSEPH  GARDNER  SWIFT.  29 1 

(Lieut. -Colonel  Corps  of  Engineers  July  6,  18 12.) 

(Colonel  and  Chief  Engineer  of  the  U.  S.  Army  July  31,  1S12.) 

1812;   as  chief  engineer  of  the  army  under  command  of  Major-General  Wilkinson 

in  the  campaign  of  1813  on  the  St.  Lawrence  River,  being  engaged  in  the  battle  of 

Chrysler's  Field,  Upper  Canada,  Nov.  11,   1813;   and  of  the  forces  for  the  defence 

of  the  city  and  harbor  of  New  York  (including  Brooklyn  and  Harlem  Heights,) 

(Brev.  Brig.-General  Feb.  19,  1814,  for  meritorious  services.) 

1813-14;    as  superintending  engineer  of  the  construction    of  the   fortifications  of 

New  York  Harbor,  1814-17;    in  command  of  the  corps  of  engineers  July  31,  1812 

to  November  12,  18 18,  having  charge  of  the  Engineer  Bureau  at  Washington,  D.  C, 

April  3  to  Nov.  12,  1818;    and  (ex-officio)  superintendent  of  the  Military  Academy 

July  31,  1812  to  July  28,  1818;  and  its  inspector  April  7  to  Nov.  12,  1818;   and  as 

member  of  board  of  engineers  for  the  Atlantic  coast  of  the  Lhiited  States  April  21, 

181 7  to  Nov.  12,  18 1 8. 

Resigned  November  j2,  18 18." 

Cii'il  History.  —  Surveyor  of  the  United  States  Revenue  for  the  port  of  New  York, 
1818-27.  Member  of  the  board  of  visitors  to  the  Military  Academy  1S22  and 
1824.  Chief  Engineer  of  New  Orleans  and  Lake  Pontchartrain  Railroad,  (the  first 
laid  with  T  rail  in  the  United  States,)  1830-31.  Civil  engineer  In  the  service  of  the 
United  States,  superintending  harbor  improvements  on  the  lakes,  1829-45.  Aided 
in  suppressing  Canada  border  disturbances  1839,  and  was  appointed  by  the  President 
in  1 841  on  a  mission  to  the  British  Provinces  with  reference  to  a  treaty  with  Great 
Britain.  Member  of  several  scientific  and  historical  societies,  and  of  "La  Societe 
Frangaise  de  Statique  Universelle  de  Paris,"  1839.  Degree  of  LL.  D.  conferred  by 
Kenyon  College,  Gambler,  Ohio,  1843. 

Died  July  23,  1865,  at  Geneva,  N.  Y.,  aged  eighty-two. 

The  superintendent  of  the  Military  Academy,  General  Cullum,  directed  honors  to 
be  paid  to  General  Swift's  memory  in  the  following  order : 


"Headquarters  U.  S.  Military  Academy,  ) 


"West  Point,  N.  Y.,  July  30,  1865. 

"  The  first  graduate  of  the  U.  S.  Military  Academy,  General  Joseph  G.  Swift, 
departed  this  life  at  his  residence,  Geneva,  N.  Y.,  on  the  23d  inst.,  at  the  advanced 
age  of  nearly  eighty-two. 

"General  Swift  was  born  Dec.  31,  1783,  in  Nantucket,  Mass.,  was  graduated  at 
the  Military  Academy  soon  after  its  organization,  and  was   promoted   October   12, 


292  MEMOIRS  OF  GENERAL  JOSEPH  GARDNER  SWIFT. 

1802,  to  be  Second  Lieutenant  in  the  Corps  of  Engineers,  in  which  branch  of  service 
he  continued  through  all  the  successive  grades,  'till  he  became  Colonel  and  Chief 
Engineer  of  the  Army,  July  31,  1 812  — during  that  period  being  chiefly  engaged  in 
the  construction  of  fortifications  on  the  Atlantic  coast.  In  the  war  of  1812-15  ^^''^h 
Great  Britain,  after  serving  as  aid-de-camp  to  Major-General  Pin'kney,  he  became  in 
1S13  the  chief  engineer  in  Wilkinson's  campaign  on  the  St.  Lawrence,  participating 
in  the  battle  of  Chrysler's  Field,  and  was  subsequently,  in  1813-14,  chief  engineer 
of  the  forces  for  the  defence  of  New  York,  receiving  for  his  meritorious  services  the 
brevet  of  Brigadier-General  Feb.  19,  18 14.  After  the  war  he  assumed  the  direct 
superintendency  of  the  Military  Academy,  and  was  its  inspector  for  a  brief  period 
preceding  his  resignation  November  12,  1S18.  Upon  leaving  the  army  he,  for  nine 
years,  was  surveyor  of  the  U.  S.  Revenue  for  the  port  of  New  York,  and  then 
became  a  distinguished  civil  engineer,  employed  by  the  government  for  a  long  period 
in  directing  harbor  improvements  on  the  northern  lakes,  and  aiding  in  suppressing 
Canada  border  disturbances,  being  in  1841  honored  by  the  President  with  a  mission 
to  the  British  Provinces  with  reference  to  a  treaty  of  peace  with  Great  Britain. 
'Born  at  the  close  of  the  American  Revolution,  and  dying  at  the  termination  of  the 
American  Rebellion,  General  Swift  lived  through  the  most  momentous  period  of 
history,  and  was  himself  a  prominent  actor  in  the  grand  drama  of  our  national 
existence.  His  military  career  began  with  that  of  the  Military  Academy,  which  he 
fostered  in  its  feeble  infancy,  and  he  lived  to  see,  in  its  developed  maturity,  the  sons 
of  his  cherished  alma  mater  directing  the  high  destinies  of  his  country  on  victorious 
fields  in  Canada,  Florida,  Mexico,  and  within  the  wide  domain  of  our  southern 
border.  He  now  calmly  sleeps,  after  a  long  and  useful  life  of  more  than  four  score 
years,  leaving  this  world  in  the  blissful  consciousness  that  he  and  his  brother  gradu- 
ates of  this  institution  have  ably  performed  their  allotted  part  in  subduing  the  savage 
foe,  in  conquering  foreign  enemies,  and  crushing  treason  in  our  midst ;  and  that  he 
has  left  behind  a  regenerated  fatherland  of  one  people,  with  but  one  emblem  of 
nationality,  sacred  to  liberty,  and  the  triumph  of  the  best  government  on  earth."  The 
personal  excellence  of  General  Swift  can  be  only  appreciated  by  those  who  knew 
and  loved  him,  and  they  were  all  whom  he  met  on  his  long  journey  of  life,  for  he 
had  no  enemies  but  his  country's.  Amiable  and  sincere,  spotless  in  integrity,  stanch 
in  friendship,  liberal  in  charity,  General  Swift  was  a  model  gentleman,  a  true  patriot 
and  Christian  soldier,  worthy  of  the  imitation  of  all  who,  like  him,  would  live  honored 
and  revered,  and  die  universally  regretted. 

"  As  an  appropriate  tribute  of  respect  from  the  Military  Academy  to  his  memory, 
there  will  be  fired,  under  the  direction  of  the  commandant  of  cadets,  eleven  minute 
guns,  commencing  at  meridian  to-morrow,  and  the  national  flag  will  be  displayed 
at  half  staff  from  the  same  hour  until  sunset." 


Swift  Coat  of  Arms  and  Old  Chair. 


GENEALOGY. 


The  Name. 


The  origin  of  family  names,  though  obscured  by  time,  has  reference  to  the 
character,  occupation  or  residence  as  also  to  parentage,  and  family  devices  or  arms 
also  indicate  these  names.  Thus  the  device  of  "Deer  at  full  speed,"  and  that 
assumed  by  the  Rector  of  Godrich  of  a  dolphin  round  an  anchor  and  the  motto 
^^Festina  Lenter  are  in  point,  for  in  those  days  a  dolphin  was  called  a  zv^\{^.  —  Vide 

Scott's  Sivift. 

The   name  Swift,  written  by  the  Saxons   Swiff  or  Swithen,  as  also  Swyfte  and 
Swifte,  is  found  in  the  early  annals  of  England.     Sir  Frs.  Talgrave  says  in  his  Rolls 
that,  anno  eleven  hundred  and  sixty-four  (1164)  lived  Henry  Swifte  of  Tavesham  in 
Norfolk,  and  Walter  Swifte  of  Metar  in  Berks,  and  John  Swifte  of  Corford  in  Suftblk ; 
and  anno  1 199  Gilbert  and  Albreda  Swifte  (his  wife)  of  Riversdale,  had  lands  allotted 
to  them,  and  William  Swift's  daughters  in  Essex,  to  wit:   Amecia  and  Matilda  had 
lands  devised  to  them,  and  Stephen  Swift  was  a  proprietor  in  Norfolk,  and  William 
in   Essex,  and   anno    1275    Richard   Swift  of  Cotax   in   Cambridge,  and  William  of 
Customar  and  Adam  Swift  of  Norfolk  were  proprietors,  and  Adam  Swift  lived  in 
Wakefield  in  Yorkshire,  and  John  at  CoriorA.— Vide  1164.     Anno    1280  Arnulph 
Swift  was  at  Costise  in  Tavesham  in  Norfolk  (see  1 164,)  and  Henry  at  Deniston,  and 
Erwald  Swift  in  the  church,  and  Walter  and  Roger  lived  in  North  Hampshire,  and 
the  family  in  Lancaster  held  lands  under  Duke  Henry.     Anno    1300  Robert  Swift 
and  Margaret  his  wife  lived  at  Canterbury  on  land  granted  by  Edward  I.     In  the 
Parliamentary   Writs  of  Sir  F.  Palgrave,   page    1483,   Gilbert  Swift   of  Devizes,  in 
Shire  of  York,  was  a  knight  in  Parliament  9th  September,  1314-    Anno  13 17  Robert 
de  Swyft,  an  honorable   person,  says   Palgrave,  a  licentiate   at  Wineford  in  Essex. 
Anno    132 1    John    Swift    of  Leominster   in    Herts   was    a    knight   in   Parliament.— 
Palgrave,  page  14S3.     In    1356  Hugo  Swift  received  a  patent  of  land.     Anno  1398, 
in  sir  Harris  Nicholas'  Proceedings  of  the  King's  Privy  Council,  page  80,  Mr.  Swyft  is 
secretary  to  the  writ  of  summons  of  Richard   II.     Anno   1399  Roger  Swift  lived  in 
Kent,  and  inherited  a  tenth  of  the  lands  of  Hadels,  and  anno  1461  another  Roger 
Swift  also  inherited  a  sixteenth  of  the  same  lands.     Anno  1408  and  1420  John  Swift 
was  a  land-holder  in  Norfolk.  — F/^^  1164.     Anno   1508  Peter  Swift  was  auditor  of 
St.  Pauls,  London,  and  Richard,  rector  in  Hereford.     Anno  1530  Robert  Swyft  lived 
at  Castle  Ward  in  Notts,  and  his  cousin  lived  in  Lancaster.     Anno  1531  John  Swyft 
and  Ann,  his  wife,  had  a  lawsuit  with  Stanly  of  Mt.  Eagle,  for  Hornby  Castle  and 


2  GENEALOGY  OF  THE  FAMILY  OF 

for  Capton  Manse,  and  other  manors  in  Lancastershire.  Anno  1535,  in  36tli  Henry 
VIII.  Robert  Swyft  was  prior  of  Shuldham  in  Norfolk,  (vide  1164,)  and  William 
Swift  was  prior  of  Cateby  in  Lincoln,  and  anno  1535  Robert  Swifte  was  rector  of 
Rotherham  in  Yorkshire,  and  his  sons  Robert  and  William  were  auditors.  Of  this 
family  was  Thomas  Swift  our  immediate  ancestor,  who  migrated  from  Rotherham 
anno  1620  to  1629  to  Massachusetts  Bay,  and  brought  with  him  the  family  arms, 
"Or,  a  Chevron  vair  Blue  and  White  between  Three  Black  Bucks  in  full  Course." 
This  Thomas  became  a  "freeman"  of  Masssachusetts  anno  1635.  Of  this  Roth- 
erham family  Dugdale  says,  was  the  Dean  of  St.  Patrick's,  and  also  of  the  same 
was  Robert  Swift  who,  anno  1550,  was  proprietor  of  Wakefield  manor  in  Yorkshire, 
(vide  anno  1280,)  and  whose  son  Roger  was  seized  of  Rotherwell  in  the  same  shire, 
and  another  son,  Robert,  became  sheriff  of  the  county,  and  was  knighted  by 
Elizabeth  1599,  and  continued  sheriff  until  15th  James  I.  Anno  1597  and  '98  lived 
Garret  and  Jasper  Swift  of  the  same  family.  My  uncle  Jonathan  Swift  informed  me 
they  migrated  to,  and  died  bachelors  in,  Virginia.  Anno  1658  Sir  Edward  Swift  was 
in  the  army  with  Monk,  and  of  the  council  that  annoyed  Monk  in  opposing 
Charles  II. 

The  foregoing  is  written  to  show  the  location  and  condition  of  the  name;  but 
whether  before  anno  1535  any  of  them  be  ancestors  of  kin  of  ours  I  do  not  assert. 
Yet  there  must  needs  have  been  some  consanguinity  among  so  many  persons  of  the 
same  name,  living  at  various  times  in  contiguous  counties.  In  the  time  of  Alfred, 
mention  is  made,  in  the  Saxon  Chronicle,  of  the  name  as  existing  in  repute  and  rank. 
When  the  Normans  ruled  prenomens  became  common ;  the  conquered  Saxon,  prob- 
ably for  safety,  adopted  Norman  christian  names.  I  have  not  attempted,  because  I 
have  not  been  in  England,  to  accumulate  later  facts  of  the  Yorkshire  family,  some  of 
which  maybe  seen  in  Walter  Scott's  Life  of  Dean  Jonathan  Swift.  Anno  1802  I 
heard  my  father  and  his  cousin  John  Swift,  of  Milton,  conversing  about  the  Rev. 
John  Swift  of  Framingham  as  corresponding  with  the  Dean,  or  with  his  cousin  Dean 
Swift,  and  calling  themselves  cousins.  When  my  uncle  Jonathan  Swift  visited 
England,  anno  1786,  he  visited  Rotherham  in  Yorkshire,  and  found  the  family  of 
respectable  circle  at  Rotherham,  and  in  other  parts  of  the  county,  they  having  the 
tradition  that  a  branch  of  that  family  had  migrated  to  Boston  in  the  previous  century. 

The  foregoing  account  of  the  name  was  made  by  General  Swift.  Very  interesting 
articles  on  the  English  family  of  Swift  are  contained  in  Historic  Notices  of  Rotlicrliavi, 
by  John  Guest,  F.  S.  A.,  and  South  Yorkshire,  by  Rev.  Joseph  Hunter.  These  works 
arc  in  the  Boston  Public  Library. 

Nui  K. —  liurUc's  General  Armory  gives  the  arms  of  Robert  .Swift,  Esq.,  of  Rotherham,  born  1448.  the  riV/. 
mercer,  eldest  son  of  Rol)ert  Swift,  Esq.,  of  that  place,  —  or,  a  chevron  vair  between  three  bucks  in  full  coursi- 
proper.  Crest,  a  sinister  arm  embowed,  vested  vert,  cuffed  ar.,  holding  in  hand  a  sheaf  of  five  arrows,  or 
feathered  ppr.,  barbed  az.;  Vicount  Carlingford,  extinct  1634,  grandson  of  William  Swift,  who  was  brother  of 
Robert  .Swift,  Ksq.,  of  Rotherham,  bore  the  same  arms  and  crest. 

Godwin  Swift,  attorney-Keneral  to  the  Duke  of  Ormonde,  and  founder  of  the  family  in  Ireland,  son  of  the 
Rev,  Thomas  Swift  of  Goodrich  and  liriston  Co.,  Hereford,  bore  the  same  arms:  Crest  a  demi-buck  ramp.,  ppr., 
in  the  mouth  a  honeysuckle,  also  ppr.  stalked  and  leaved  vert.  Motto  ;  luilinu  I.ente.  The  use  of  the  anchor 
entwined  by  a  dolphin,  Hurke  says,  was  an  assumption  of  Godwin  Swift  as  a  parody  on  the  name. 


THOMAS  SWIFT  OF  DORCHESTER. 


THOMAS  SWIFT  AND  HIS  DESCENDANTS. 

(ITfjomas  Stoift,  one  of  the  earliest  settlers  of  Dorchester,  Mass.,  according  to 
Savage,  was  son  of  Robert  Swift  of  Rotherham,  Yorkshire,  England.  As  he  did  not 
qualify  this  assertion,  we  may  well  believe  that  he  derived  his  information  from  an 
authentic  source. 

He  probabl)'  came  with  the  first  comers,  but  his  name  first  appears,  November 
22,  1634,  on  the  town  records,  as  the  grantee  of  five  acres  of  land.  Twenty  more 
are  recorded  January  4,  1635,  at  the  Great  Hill  between  Roxbury  and  Dorchester; 
one  acre  of  marsh  February  18,  1635,  near  Goodman  Munning's  at  the  Point  Neck, 
and  March  18,  of  the  same  year,  between  three  and  four  acres  more.  He  also 
appears  as  grantee  of  four  acres  of  meadow  land  beyond  the  Neponset  River. 
Beside  these  grants  he  became  the  owner  of  other  lots  by  purchase.* 

He  was  admitted  freeman  of  the  colony  May  6,  1635,  was  a  member  of  the  Rev. 
Mr.  Wareham's  church  in  1636,  as  was  his  wife  Elizabeth,  and  was  occasionally  called 
to  serve  the  town  in  an  official  capacity.  In  1658  he  was  a  supervisor  of  the 
highway,  from  1659  to  1662  was  a  fence  viewer,  and  was  further  distinguished  as 
quartermaster  of  a  troop  of  horse. 

In  1 66 1 -2  the  commissioners  for  ending  small  causes  met  at  his  house,  and  the 
same  year  he  received  from  the  town  one  pound  as  part  of  the  selectmen's  expenses, 
and  in  1665  three  pounds.  Probably  they  had  met  at  his  house  to  transact  the 
affairs  of  the  town.  From  all  we  can  learn  he  appears  to  have  been  a  man  of 
enterprise,  always  ready  for  duty,  and  holding  the  respect  of  his  fellow  citizens.  He 
was  a  malster  by  trade,  which  he  seems  to  have  combined  with  agriculture.  His 
labors  appear  to  have  been  well  rewarded,  for,  beside  rearing  his  family  in  a  comfort- 
able manner,  giving  his  children  a  common  education,  and  providing  for  his  daughters 
at  their  marriage,  he  was  enabled  to  leave  to  his  family  a  goodly  estate  for  that  day, 
and  was  not  unmindful  of  the  church,  and  his  dependents. 

Among  the  household  goods  that  he  brought  over  was  the  ancient  carved  oak 


*Henry  Meriheld  a;.  65  yrs.  and  Margaret  his  wife  -x.  65  yrs.,  Anthony  Golifer  re.  64  yrs.,  Ann  Spurr  0;.  61  yrs., 
Thomas  Tileston  x.  76  yrs.,  all  of  Dorchester,  testifieth  that  Thomas  Swift,  late  of  Dorchester  deceased,  and 
Thomas  Swift  his  son,  of  Milton,  possessed  by  tillage  and  mowing  a  tract  of  upland  and  meadow  in  Dorchester 
44  years;   which  is  bounded  southerly  with  meadow  and  upland  formerly  belonging  to  the  worshipfuU  M'.  Israel 

Stoughton  :   the  upland  being  bounded  westerly  with  the  highway,  northerly  with  Leads,  his  land,  and 

easterly  mth  the  meadow  formerly  belonging  to  M'.  John  Holman,  and  partly  with  the  same  meadow;  and  the 
meadow  being  bounded  westerly  with  the  same  upland,  and  northerly  with  the  meadow  formerly  belonging  to  M'. 
John  Holman,  and  easterly  with  a  great  salt  creek  or  river. 

Henry  Meriheld  and  wife  also  testifyeth  that  he.  Swift,  had  two  houses  upon  it  and  they  were  tenants.  Ann 
Spurr  also  testifyeth  there  were  two  houses.  Swift  hved  in  one  with  his  family,  myself  being  one.  William 
Sumner  a;.  80  yrs.,  Richard  Hall  se.  65  yrs.,  Thomas  Holman  st.  45  yrs.,  Timothy  Tileston  x.  49  yrs.,  testifyeth 
that  he  lived  on  it  36  years  and  upwards.  —  Document  dated  Dec.  23,  j6Sj.     Suf.  Deeds  Lib.   13,  Fol.  40S. 


4  GENEALOGY  OF  THE  FAMILY  OF 

chair  and  the  famil)-  coat-of-arms,  painted  in  oil  on  canvas.  These  precious 
relics  of  the  old  Puritan  are  still  in  possession  of  his  descendants ;  the  former 
owned  by  Miss  Elizabeth  R.  Swift  of  Milton,  the  latter  by  McRee  Swift,  Esq., 
of  New  Brunswick,  N.  J. 

The  old  arm  chair  indicates  by  its  st}'le  and  workmanship  that  it  belonged  to  the 
period  of  the  emigration,  and  there  is  not  the  shadow  of  a  doubt  of  the  authenticity 
of  its  descent  to  the  present  day.  It  was  inherited  by  Mr.  Samuel  Swift  of  the 
fifth  generation  from  Thomas,  whose  house  is  still  standing  on  Milton  Hill.  By 
some  mistake,  this  valuable  relic  was  sold  by  auction  when  Samuel  Swift's  estate  was 
settled,  for  the  paltry  sum  of  eighteen  cents.  It  was  bought  by  Mr.  Ezra  Glover  of 
Quincy,  who  could  not  be  induced  to  give  it  up.  At  his  decease  it  fell  to  his  son, 
John  J.  Glover,  who  possessed  a  taste  for  antique  furniture,  and  died  leaving  a  fine 
collection.  His  furniture  was  sold  by  auction,  and  well  advertised,  which  brought 
together  many  persons  who  were  disposed  to  pay  a  large  price  for  this  interesting 
chair.  Those  desirous  of  getting  it  back  into  the  family  stated  their  case,  and  the 
parties  wishing  to  purchase  withdrew  their  claim,  and  the  administrators,  with  the 
consent  of  the  heirs,  sold  it  to  Miss  Elizabeth  R.  Swift  of  Milton,  in  whose  possession 
it  now  remains.  Albertypes  of  the  chair  and  the  coat-of-arms  have  been  success- 
fully made  for  this  work. 

Savage  says  Elizabeth,  wife  of  Thomas  Swift,  was  probably  daughter  of  Bernard 
Capen  of  Dorchester,  which  is  doubtless  correct,  for  Thomas  Swift  in  his  will  calls 
John  Capen  his  brother-in-law,  and  John  Capen  (who  had  a  grant  of  an  acre  of  land 
next  to  Goodman  Swift  to  build  a  house  on,)  speaks  of  his  sister  Swift  in  a  letter  to 
Mary  Bass,  dated  i,  5  mo.,  1647,  printed  in  the  History  of  Dorchester,  p.  45.  The 
Swift  graves  are  also  ne.vt  to  those  of  Capen. 

Bernard  Capon  was  from  Dorchester,  England.  He  was  a  very  prominent  citizen, 
serving  as  representative  six  times.  He  died  Nov.  8,  1638,  and  his  gravestone 
inscription  is  thought  to  be  the  earliest  in  New  England.  See  Hist.  Gen.  Register, 
Vol.  XX.,  p.  246,  for  an  account  of  the  family. 

CHILDREN. 

Joan,  perhaps  b.  in  England,  d.  July  21,  1663;  m.  Nov.  5,  1657,  (as  Savage  says,  should  be,  without 
doubt,  1647,)  John  Baker  of  Boston,  smith,  by  whom  she  had  eight  children,  six  of  whom 
proljably  d.  young,  as  only  two,  Thomas  and  Elizabeth,  are  named  in  their  father's  will,  made 
March  26,  1666;  proved  July,  1666;  invt.  .^^798.19.  Abstract  of  same  in  Hist.  Gen.  RfgisUr, 
Vol.  XV.,  p.  124.  He  gave  son  Thomas  land  in  Dorchester  that  had  belonged  to  his  grandfather 
Swift.  He  m.  2nd,  8,  11,  1663,  Thankful,  dau.  of  Lieut.  Hopestill  Foster  of  Dorchester,  by 
whom  he  had  John,  and  a  posthumous  dau.  Silence,  b.  28,  5,  1666.  He  was  admitted  townsman 
of  Boston  1642,  and  his  name  appears  in  the  Book  of  Possessions  1648;  ar.  co.  1644.  Hi> 
inventory  shows  he  was  a  shipowner,  and  that  he  lived  in  good  style. 

2.  iTtjomas,  b.  June  17,  1635. 

3.  ©bafiiatj,  b.  July  16,  1638. 

Ei.lZABinil,  b.  Feb.  26,  1640;   d.  Jan.  9,  1641-2. 


THOMAS  SWIFT  OF  DORCHESTER.  5 

Ruth,  b.  Aug.  24,  1643;  d.  between  1677  and  16S0;  m.  Oct.  10,  l65o,  Capt.  Wm.  Greenough, 
shipwright,  of  Boston,  by  whom  she  had  seven  children.  He  d.  Aug.  6,  1693,  re.  53,  (g.  s.  one 
of  the  most  beautiful  in  Copp's  Hill).  Will  made  Aug.  I,  1693;  proved  Sept.  13,  1693;  'nvt. 
;^i 245.9.4,  showing  large  estate  and  house  furnished  in  a  superior  manner.  Had  2nd  wife 
Elizabeth  Rainsford;   3rd  wife  Sarah  Shore  of  Chelmsford.     See  N.  E.  Hisi.  Geti.  I\eg.,  Vol. 

Mary,  b.  Sept.  21,  1645;  m.  11,  11,  1663,  John  White  of  Boston,  joiner;  bapt.  in  Dorchester  15th 
Dec,  1639;  d.  Aug.  6,  1690,  k.  about  50:  (g.  s.  Copp's  Hill).  Will  made  Apr.  26,  1690; 
proved  Oct.  11,  1690;  invt.  £ioii.-j3,,  consisting  of  dwelling  houses  and  wharf,  land  at  Dor- 
chester, farm  at  Lynn,  household  effects  showing  he  lived  in  the  same  style  as  his  brother-in-laws. 
Names  brother  James  White,  of  Dorchester,  and  son  Edward.  Was  son  of  Edward  White  of 
Dorchester,  1635,  who  was  b.  1593;  m.  Martha  King  in  1616  at  St.  Dunstan's  church,  Cran- 
brooke,  Kent,  Eng.  John  and  Mary  had,  i.  Mary,  b.  8,  S,  1663,  m.  John  Robinson.  2.  Martha, 
b.  July  7.  '659,  m.  Samuel  Warkman  of  R.  I.,  housewright.  3.  Sarah,  b  i6th  Aug.,  1671,  m. 
Capt.  Edward  Martyn,  merchant  of  Boston,  son  of  Michael  Martyn  of  Boston,  mariner.  In 
this   line   is   descended    Mrs.  Harrison   EUery.      4.  Elizabeth,    m.  John    Welch,   mariner.     5. 

Edward,  m.  Elizabeth  ■ ;   was  cooper  of  Boston.     6.  Susanna,  d.  June  iS,  167S.    7. 

Thankful,  b.  Jan.  18,  1677,  spinster  in  1702.    8.  John,  b.  Aug.  12,  16S0. 

Anna,  b.  Nov.  16,  1647;  d.  Sept.  13,  16S0,  x.  33,  (g.  s.  Copp's  Hill) ;  ra.  Aug.  19,  1664,  Obadiah 
Read  of  Boston,  housewright,  by  whom  she  had  several  children,  i.  Elizabeth,  b.  Mch.  29, 
1669;  m.  July  6,  1691,  Samuel  Durham.  2.  Anna,  b.  Feb.  3,  1672-3;  m.  Highinbottom.  3. 
James,  b.  Feb.  29,  1679-S0.  Others  d.  young.  By  his  2nd  wife  Elizabeth  he  had  children.  He 
d.  Feb.  19,  1721-2,  £e.  82,  (g.  5.  Copp's  Hill).  Will  made  Jan.  3,  1718;  invt.  ;^S75;  names 
sons  Thomas,  James,  and  Obadiah  to  have  100  acres  land  in  Kittery  Co.,  York;  grandson  John 
Durram;  daus.  Sarah  Hughes,  Anna  Highinbottom,  Mary  Miller,  Elizabeth  Durrani,  Elizabeth, 
dau.  of  Obadiah;   sisters  Hannah  and  Sarah  Broughton. 

James,  bapt.  10,  i,  1649;  d.  4,  9,  1657. 

Susanna,  b.  Feb.  11,  1651-2;  d.  Mch.  2,  1732,  se.  80;  m.  Apr.  18,  1672,  Elder  Hopestill  Clapp  of 
Dorchester.     (See  Clapp's  Genealogy). 

Elizabeth,  ;  d.  6,  9,  1657. 

The  death  of  Goodman  Swift  is  recorded  May  4,  1675,  but  his  grave-stone  is 
inscribed  May  30,  1675,  and  that  of  his  wife  January  26,  1677-8.  These  stones, 
still  standing  side  by  side  in  the  western  corner  of  the  ancient  graveyard  of  Dor- 
chester, at  Upham's  corner,  are  of  heavy  slate  well  preserved,  and  bid  fair  to  stand 
the  storms  and  sunshine  of  two  centuries  more.  The  illustrations  given,  are  directly 
from  the  stones.  The  inscriptions  are  also  printed  on  page  166,  Vol.  Iv.  of  the  N.  E. 
Hist,  and  Gen.  Register. 

The  graves  are  covered  with  two  large  rough  Roxbury  pudding  stones,  placed 
there  to  protect  the  bodies  from  the  wolves ;  a  common  custom  with  the  early 
settlers,  these  rapacious  animals  being  numerous  at  that  period. 

WILL. 

The  last  will  and  testam'  of  me  Tho :  Swift  Sen'  of  dorchester,  made  the  six  and  twentieth  day  of  Aprill, 
sixteen  hundred  seveanty  and  five. 
First.  I  Commit  mv  soule  to  god  that  gave  it,  and  my  body  to  a  decent  buriall  in  the  earth.  And  for  this 
world's  goods  which  god'has  gratiously  given  me,  my  will  is  that  my  just  debts  be  paid  and  funerall  discharged, 
and  then  my  whole  estate  as  now  it  is,  I  leave  it  with  my  wife  for  her  comfortable  livelyhood  dureing  her  natural 
life,  if  she  remaire  a  widow;  but  and  if  she  Change  her  Condition  by  marrying  with  another  man,  then  my  will  is 
that  my  wife  shall  have  one  hundred  pounds  out  of  my  estate,  either  in  land  or  goods,  which  she  like  be»t,  and 


6  GENEALOGY  OF  THE  FAMILY  OF 

this  hundred  pounds  shall  be  at  her  disposall  when  it  shall  please  god  to  take  her  away  by  death,  and  for 
the  rest  of  my  estate,  when  this  hundred  pounds  is  taken  away,  my  will  is  that  my  sonn  Tho :  shall  have  live 
pounds  as  a  farther  token  of  my  love,  beside  what  he  have  formerly  had. 

Also,  I  give  and  bequeath  six  pounds  unto  the  towne  of  dorchester  toward  there  maintaining  of  an  alile 
minestry  in  dorchester,  and  to  be  laid  out  by  the  selectmen  &  deacons  in  Something  that  may  helpe  the  towne 
in  there  yearly  maintenance.  And  twenty  shiUings  I  give  unto  Henry  Merrifield,  and  twenty  shillings  unto 
Anne,  the  wife  of  Rob'  Spurr,  who  were  formerly  my  servants;  the  remainder  of  my  estate  I  doe  will  and 
appointe  that  my  sonn  Obediah  Swift  shall  have  a  double  portion  with  any  of  his  sisters,  accounting  what  they 
have  formerly  had.  and  when  my  wife  die  or  marry,  if  my  sonn  Obediah  be  able  &  willing,  he  may  purchase  the 
land  and  pay  his  sisters  in  other  specie,  further,  my  will  is  that  Elizabeth,  my  deare  and  loving  wife  shall  be 
Executrix  of  my  whole  estate,  and  my  brother-in-Law  W'".  Sumner,  and  my  brother-in-Law  John  Capen  I 
doe  appointe  to  be  Overseeres  of  my  whole  estate.  In  witness  whereof  I  have  hereunto  set  my  hand  and  Scale 
y  day  is;  yeare  aforesaid. 

the  mark  of  \V.  Tho :  Swift  &  a  seale. 

Signed,  Sealed  &  Deliv'  in  presence  of  us,  viz  : 
John  Cape.n,  Sen', 

RlC*  S.MITH. 

L'  Jn"  Capen  and  Rich''  Smith  made  oath  in  Court  the  30  July,  1675,  that 
they  being  present  subscribed  there  names  as  witnesses  to  this  Instrum',  which 
Tho :  Swift  Signed,  sealed  and  published  to  be  his  last  will  and  testam',  &  y' 
when  he  soe  did  he  was  of  a  sound  disposing  minde  to  the  best  of  there 
knowledge,     this  done  as  attests.     Lib.  6,  Fol.  9./,  Suf.  Wills. 

INVENTORY. 

An  inventory  of  the  estate  of  Tho:  Swift  of  dorchester,  who  departed  this  life  y'  4th  of  May,  1675,  taken 
and  appraised  by  us  whose  names  are  underwritten  this  iSth  day  of  June,  1675 : 

Imp",     wearing  apparrell  of  all  Sorts,  both  linen  and  woolen,    -  -  -  -  - 

It :     some  peses  of  new  Cloath,  viz  :   tecking,      ------- 

It :     9  sheetes,  7  pillowbys,  table  cloath,  one  duz.  and  halfe  of  napkins,  towells  and  a  little  flax, 
It :     one  bed  and  bolster,  blankets,  pillows,  curtaines,  vallens,  bedstead. 

It:     One  Cupbord,  Chests,  truncke,  table,  Chaires,  Cushins  and  forme,  .  -  - 

In  the  Chamber.     It:     One  featherbed,  bolsters,  Rugg,  blanktis,  .  .  -  . 

It :     3  p'  Sheetes,  one  chest,  Rugg  and  other  small  things,  .  .  .  -  . 

Kitchen.     It :      10  platters,  2  candlesticks,  basons,  fruttedishes,  porengers,  quart  potts,  bowles,  &c., 
It:     2  brass  kittles,  I  Iron  pot,  I  warming  pan,  I  porsnet  skillet,  brase  morter  firepan  and 

tongs,  and  other  utinsells,  -..--.-- 

Malthouse.     It :     One  skreene,  hair  cloth  baggs,  measures,  and  other  utensels. 
In  the  yard  &  field.     It :     5  Cows,  one  horse,  two  oxen,  two  yung  cattle,  swine.  Cart  and  wheeles, 

plow,  chaine,  sadle,  pillion,  bridle,  and  other  utincells,      -  -  -  .  - 

It:     22  acres  and  4  of  land  on  the  north  of  Naponsett,  .  .  -  .  - 

It :     20  acres  land  at  the  20  acre  lots,      ..-..-.- 
It:     II  acres  and  .1  land  in  y  Cow  walke,  --.-.-. 

It :     the  dwelling  house,  barne,  rooms,  orchard,  gardens,  plowing  land  and  pasture 

land  on  the  hill  neere  the  house,  about  12  acres,  -  .  .  .  . 

It :     4'  acres  of  land  called  pops  lott,  and  aboute  two  acres  in  the  toune  feild,    -  .  - 

It :     6  acres  of  meadow,  ...-..-.- 

It:     One  muskit  and  p' of  Sidar  press,  -..-..-- 

the  totall  sume,  errors  excepted,  is  -  -  -         459     10     03 

JAMES  HUMPSTREY, 
Lib.  5,  Fol.  2jn,  Suf.  IVills.  Wm.  SUMNER, 

JOHN  CAPEN,  Sen'. 

Although  Thomas  Swift  made  his  mark  when  signing  his  will,  he  could  write,  for 
7).  fac-siniUc  of  his  autograph,  with  others,  attached  to  a  petition  in  1641,  is  printed 
in  Blake's  Annals  of  Dorchester. 


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THOMAS  SWIFT  OF  DORCHESTER. 


Deacon  9rf)oma33  Stoift,  (Thomas^)  of  Milton,  yeoman,  b.  in  Dorchester,  Mass., 
June  17,  1635;  m.  Dec.  9,  1657,  Elizabeth,  dau.  of  Robert  Vose,  of  Milton.  She 
d.  Jan.  26,  1676,  and  the  i6th  of  the  following  October  he  m.  Sarah  Clapp.  She 
was  dismissed  from  the  church  in  Dorchester  the  18,  7,  1681,  and  was  admitted  to 
full  communion  at  the  Milton  church  Oct.  2,  1681.  She  may  have  been  a  daughter 
of  a  brother  of  Roger  Clapp.      (See  Clapp  Genealogy,  p.  12). 

CHILDREN. 
Thomas,  b.  July  30,    1659;   dead  in  1 71 7,  when  his  father,  by  will,  gives  a  legacy  to  "Thomas 
Swift,  the  reputed  Son  of  Son  Thomas  Swift,  deceas'd." 

Elizabeth,  b.  Aug.  21,  1662;  m. Pratt. 

Ebenezer,  b.  Oct.  21,  1667;  d.  Nov.  3,  1680. 

William,  b.  May  5,  1670;   killed  in  1690  in  the  expedition  against  Quebec,  Canada,  being  a  mem- 
ber of  John  Withington's  co.  of  Dorchester.     His  cousin  James,  member  of  same  co.,  was  also 
killed. 
k-     3of)n,  b.  Mch,  14,  1678-9. 
5.     Samiitl,  b.  Dec.  10,  16S3. 

Deacon  Swift  received  from  his  father-in-law,  in  1659,  i()%  acres  of  upland  in 
Milton,  which  was  confirmed  to  him  by  deed  dated  Feb.  23,  1663.*  This,  with 
other  lots  which  he  subsequently  added  by  purchase,  was  the  original  homestead, 
continued  in  the  family  until  1835,  when  it  was  sold  by  his  great-grandson  Samuel 
Swift.  This  estate  is  now  owned  by  Mr.  Lewis  W.  Tappan,  Jr.,  of  Milton,  a  descendant 
of  Obadiah,  brother  of  Dea.  Thomas  Swift. 

He  early  showed  a  capacity  for  public  affairs,  and  in  1662  was  chosen  to  run  a 
line  between  Dorchester  and  Braintree,  and  was  a  supervisor  of  the  highway.  In 
1661  he  received  a  bounty  of  £1  for  slaying  a  wolf 

He  evidently  settled  in  Milton  about  the  time  of  his  marriage,  and  became  one  of 
the  most  prosperous  and  useful  citizens,  being  constantly  in  office  till  within  a  few 
years  of  his  death. 

The  town  was  incorporated  in  1662,  but  the  records  do  not  commence  until  1669. 
His  name  appears  that  year  as  one  appointed  to  make  the  rate,  and  "get  help  for  the 
Sabbath."  The  same  year  he  was  on  the  grand  jury,  and  also  commenced  his  long 
career  of  service  as  a  selectman,  which  reached,  almost  without  an  intermission,  to 
the  year  1700  —  a  period  of  about  thirty  years.  During  this  time  he  was  also  called 
to  serve  in  various  other  capacities;  was  clerk  of  the  market;  appointed  in  1700-1 
to  oversee  the  building  of  the  meeting  house ;  was  fence  viewer,  tything-man, 
assessor,  representative  to  General  Court,  and  in  17 14  moderator — probably  the  last 
town  office  which  he  held. 

*Mch.  iS,  1727-S,  Jonathan  Gulliver  a:,  about  67  yrs.,  Stephen  Crane  about  70  yrs.,  John  Wadsworth  about 
55  yrs.,  Peter  White  about  67  yrs.,  all  testify  that  Dea.  Thomas  Swift  of  Milton,  deceased,  and  Samuel  Swift,  his 
■son,  for  forty  years  have  been  in  possession  of  a  certain  tract  of  land  in  Milton.  —  Suf.  Deeds,  Lib.  4.2,  Fol.  jj. 


8  GENEALOGY  OF  THE  FAMILY  OF 

Beside  these  numerous  offices  he  was  made  quartermaster  of  a  troop  of  horse 
May  5,  1676,  as  had  been  his  father,  and  bore  the  title  of  Heutenant.  He  was 
appointed  by  the  General  Court  to  take  charge  of  the  Neponset  Indians  at  Brush 
Hill.  Major  Gookin,  in  his  Indian  History  says  that  "Mr.  Eliot  and  himself  met 
every  other  week  in  the  winter  of  1676  among  the  Punkapoag  Indians,  who  were 
brought  up  from  Long  Island,  and  placed  near  Brush  Hill  in  Milton,  under  the  charge 
of  Quartermaster  Swift.  They  came  up  late  from  the  Island,  yet  they  planted  some 
ground  procured  for  them  by  Major  Swift,  and  they  got  some  corn.  Their  wives 
and  children  were  there  with  them." 

The  following  orders  and  petitions,  from  the  Mass.  Archives,  give  us  some  idea  of 
his  valuable  services. 

29,  5,  1675.     Coperall  Thomas  Swift  was  ordered  by  the  council  to  take  with  him  Indians,  soldiers  at  Swanzy. 

To  the  honorable  Counsell  now  sitting  in  Boston : 

Thes  humbly  sheweth  that  wheras  I  was  ordered  by  the  whorshipfuU  Mr.  Danforth  to  asoect  the  Indians 
belonging  to  punckapoge  the  latter  part  of  the  last  summer,  and  secondly  of  beinge  ordered  by  the  honnerd 
major  Guggins,  and  so  from  the  honnerd  Counsell  to  tacke  care  of  the  afuresayd  Indians  after  that  they  came 
from  the  island.  Thes  humbly  informeth  that  the  last  year  I  spent  a  grete  deal  of  time  about  them,  they  being 
restraind  from  Commerse  with  the  Inglish,  and  our  EngUsh  beinge  so  Kedy,  many  of  them,  to  tacke  any 
advantage  against  them  if  that  they  were  found  out  of  that  Limits,  which  necesitated  me  to  doe  much  of  ther 
business,  beside  all  other  ackomation  conceringe  them  and  the  good  of  the  Country,  Considering  how  the  case 
stood  between  us  &  the  Indian;  which  service  I  hop  I  did  cheerfuly  and  in  some  mesure,  I  hop,  to  the  utmost 
of  my  power,  for  which  1  have  never  reseved  any  alowance;  but  I  humbly  leve  it  to  your  honers  Consideration. 
as  to  the  ackompt  of  what  time  I  spent,  it  was  almost  impossible  fur  me  to  Kepe  an  ackompt  of,  considering  how 
things  have  been  with  us.     so  I  Re»t,  holding  it  my  duty  to  pr.ay  for  you  honner. 

your  humbell  servant  in  what  I  can  or  may, 

THOMAS  SWIFT. 

5d.  8m.,  76:  [•  Mass.  Archives,  Lib.  ^0,  Fol.  Z2j. 

Ordered,  that  Lieu'  Thomas  Swift  take  Speedy  care  to  provide  .Sixty  or  more  of  the  Friend  Indians,  well 
furnish''  with  arms  &  amunition,  to  be  sent  out  under  a  Suitable  Comander  ag'  the  comon  Enemy. 
Past  in  the  affirmative  by  the  Magistrate. 
Aug.  1690.  Jo"  Addington,  Sec'>'. 

Consented  to  by  the  deputiees.  Neh.  Jewet,  p.  ored. 

These  he  furnished  at  an  expense  of  ;^o.i5.o.  —  Mass.  Archives. 

Not  only  in  secular  affairs  was  he  prominent  and  useful,  but  the  church  found  in 
him  a  ready  supporter.  He  was  one  of  the  founders  of  the  First  Church  in  Milton, 
signing  the  covenant  April  24,  1678,  and  Aug.  20,  1682,  was  ordained  deacon.  He 
and  his  wife  Elizabeth  had  been  members  of  the  Dorchester  church  before  the 
organization  of  the  Milton  church,  and  there  their  children  were  baptized.  In  1686 
he  gave  .^2.5.0  to  the  support  of  the  minister,  being  one  of  the  largest  subscribers. 

The  town  records  of  Dorchester  show  that  he  and  Ezra  Clapp  were  granted,  in 
1 68 1,  liberty  to  catch  fish  at  Neponset,  below  the  mill,  and  to  make  a  stage  there. 

Capt.  Roger  Clapp  of  Dorchester,  Nov.  9,  1690,  makes  his  cousin  Thomas  Swift 
one  of  the  overseers  of  his  will. 

Deacon  Swift  lived  to  the  good  old  age  of  82  years,  dying  January  26,  1 71 7-1 8. 
His  wife  died  Feb.  4th,  171 7-18,  the  day  after  her  husband's  funeral,  as  is  recorded 
in  the  journal  of  her  son,  the  Rev.  John  Swift  of  Framingham.  Some  accounts  call 
the  Rev.  John  the  son  of  the  first  wife,  Elizabeth,  which  is  erroneous. 


THOMAS  SWIFT  OF  DORCHESTER.  9 

The  gravestones  of  Mr.  and  Mrs.  Swift  —  small,  beautifully  cut  stones  —  are 
standing  in  the  Milton  cemetery  among  a  number  of  stones,  fifteen  in  all,  of  the 
family.  That  of  Mr.  Swift  has  been  printed  in  the  .V.  E.  H.  G.  Register.  They  are 
reproduced   for  this  work  by  the  Albertype  process. 

WILL. 

In  the  Name  of  God.  Amen,  the  Twenty-first  day  of  September,  Anno  Domini  One  Thousand 
Seven  Hundred  and  Seventeen.  In  the  fourth  Year  of  the  Reign  of  our  Sovereign  Lord  George  over  Great 
Brittain,  cVc,  I,  Thomas  Swift  of  Milton,  in  the  County  of  Sufi'olk  within  his  Majesties  province  of  the  Massachu- 
setts Bay,  in  New  England,  Yeoman,  being  in  a  Competent  Measure  of  bodily  health,  and  of  sound  mind  & 
understanding,  praised  be  almighty  God  for  the  same.  Knowing  the  uncertainty  of  this  present  Hfe,  and  being 
desireous  to  Settle  that  outward  Estate  the  Lord  hath  lent  me,  Doe  therefore  make  &  Ordain  this  my  Last 
will  and  Testament  in  manner  and  form  following,  (That  is  to  say),  First  and  principally  I  commend  my 
Soul  into  the  hands  of  God,  my  almighty  Creator,  hopeing  to  receive  full  pardon  and  remission  of  all  my  Sins, 
and  Salvation  through  the  alone  Merits  of  Jesus  Christ  my  Redeemer,  And  my  Body  to  the  Earth,  to  be  decently 
Interred  according  to  the  discretion  of  my  Ex'%  herein  after  named,  in  hopes  of  a  Glorious  Resurrection  into 
Eternall  life.  And  as  touching  such  worldly  Estate  as  the  Lord  hath  lent  unto  me,  my  will  and  meaning  is, 
the  same  shall  be  Imploy'd  and  bestowed  as  hereafter  in  and  by  this  my  will  is  exprest.  hereby  revoking, 
renouncing  &  makeing  null  and  void  all  wills  and  Testaments  by  me  formerly  made,  declareing  and  appointing 
this  to  be  my  last  will  and  Testament,  w-herein  is  contained  the  same. 

Imp".  I  will  that  all  my  just  debts,  and  Funerall  expences,  bee  well,  truly  and  duely  paid,  by  my  son  Samuel 
Swift  of  .Milton  afores',  Husbandman,  one  of  my  Executors  hereinafter  named. 

Item.  I  do  give  and  bequeath  unto  my  Loving  wife  Sarah  Swift  the  use,  benefit  and  improvement  of  the 
East  End  of  my  Dwelling  House,  from  Bottom  to  top,  with  the  liberty,  use  and  privilidge  of  y  Garden  and  well, 
and  Three  Milch  Cows  maintained  Summer  and  winter,  and  Yearly  the  summe  of  Twelve  Pounds  Money, 
Quarterly  (dureing  the  Terme  of  her  naturall  life,)  or  in  what  to  her  shall  be  Equivalent  to  money,  and  her 
Yearly  firewood.  I  also  give  and  bequeath  unto  my  afore^aid  wife  Sarah  Swift,  her  Heirs  and  Assigns  forever, 
all  my  money  and  Moveable  Estate  within  doors,  And  all  Money,  and  debts  owing  or  due  to  me  by  bill,  Bond, 
or  otherwise.  I  also  give  unto  her  my  Negro  Woman  to  be  at  her  disposall,  and  the  one-half  of  my  Orchard 
dureing  her  natural  life. 

Item.  I  do  hereby  give,  devise  and  bequeath  unto  my  Son  John  Swift,  and  to  his  Heirs  and  Assigns  forever. 
All  that  my  whole  Tract  and  parcell  of  upland,  which  I  have  lying  in  the  Six  Divisions  (so  called)  within  the 
township  of  Milton  afores ',  bounded  Easterly  with  the  Land  of  Ephraim  Xewton,  Westerly  with  Deacon  Sumner's 
Land,  Northerly  with  the  Parralel  Line,  and  Southerly  with  Brantry  Line.  Also  all  my  Land  Lying  in  the 
Twelve  Divisions  of  Land  (so  called)  in  Dorchester  afores'.  Containing  between  Three  Score  and  Four  score 
Acres.  And  also  all  that  my  Piece  of  Salt  niairsh  Meadow  Lying  in  Dorchester  afores'',  containing  Estimation 
Seven  Acres,  be  the  same  more  or  Less,  w'hich  is  bounded  and  Surrounded  with  Lands  of  the  Late  Ebenezer 
Clap,  dec',  John  Daniel,  Daniel  Allen,  and  the  River.  And  my  mind  and  will  is  that  my  s"*  Son  John  Swift,  or 
his  Heirs,  shall  possess  all  the  afores'  uplands  at  my  decease,  and  the  Meadow  at  my  s'  wife's  decease  or 
removeall  by  marriage,  (I  haveing  given  my  s'  Son  John  Swift  considerable  before,  beside  his  learning.)  And 
if  it  happens  that  my  s'  Son  John  Swift  at  any  time  hereafter  be  minded  to  sell  and  dispose  of  his  aforesaid 
Lands  and  Meadow,  it  is  my  will  and  desire  that  his  Brother  .Samuel  Swift  may  have  the  first  tender  thereof, 
made  to  him  for  buying  them  on  such  reasonable  Terms  as  any  other  person  would  give  for  the  same.  -Vnd  if  it 
happen  that  my  s'  Son  John,  with  his  family,  in  his  Mother's  lifetime  or  afterwards  Leaves  Framingham,  and  is 
minded  to  come  &  Live  in  Milton,  then  in  such  case  for  the  Accomodation  of  himself  and  Family  while  he  shall 
remain  in  Milton,  wether  it  be  for  term  of  his  life  or  shorter,  he  shall  have  the  Old  East  End  of  my  dwelling 
House,  up  and  downe  from  the  Cellar  to  the  Top,  Liberty  tS:  use  of  the  old  Garden  and  well,  with  Ingress, 
Egress  and  Regress  to  and  from  the  same  for  the  aforesaid  purpose  freely,  only  having  his  ^lother's  Consent 
thereto.     I  give  also  to  my  S''  Son  John  Three  Cows,  to  be  delivered  him  at  my  decease. 

Item.  I  give  and  bequeath  unto  my  Daughter  Elizabeth  Pratt,  and  all  her  Children  born  of  her  body. 
One  Hundred  Pounds,  to  be  equally  divided  between  her  and  them,  to  be  paid  them  within  One  Year  after  my 
decease,  by  my  son  Samuel  Swift. 

Item.  I  give  and  bequeath  unto  Thomas  Swift,  the  reputed  Son  of  Son  Thomas  Swift,  dece.is'^  Ten  ShiUings 
besides  the  Twenty  Pounds  I  have  given  under  my  hand  to  pay  him,  and  what  is  behind  that  I  promised  his 
Mother.  And  I  do  hereby  C)rdaine  and  appoint  that  the  afors'  Thomas  Swift,  the  reputed  son  of  my  s''  Son 
Tho :  Swift,  shall  have  no  more  of  ray  said  Estate. 

Item.  I  do  hereby  give,  devise,  and  bequeath  unto  my  s''  Son  Samuel  Swift,  and  to  his  Heirs  and  Assignes 
forever,  all  my  remaining  upland  and  meadow  Lying  and  being  in  Milton  &  Dorchester  aforesaid,  with  all  my 
Housing,  Edifices,  Buildings,  Barnes,  Yards,  Gardens,  Orchards  appertaining  thereto,  and  Fences  Standing 
thereon,  he  paying  my  just  Debts  and  Funerall  Expences,  and  what  I  have  herein  before  given  Annually  unto  his 
Mother,  and  unto  his  Sister  Ehzabeth  Pratt  and  her  Children;  and  also  supplying  his  Mother  with  Firewood  at 
home  at  her  doore  at  all  time  and  times  when  she  shall  need  it,  as  also  an  Horse  to  ride  on  at  her  pleasure;  as 
also  reserving  out  of  the  above  given  and  bequeathed  premises  unto  my  Son  John  the  privihge  of  his  liveing  in 


lO  GENEALOGY  OF  THE  FAMILY  OF 

the  Old  East  End  of  s'^  Dwelling  house  in  manner  as  afores''.  I  also  give  unto  my  son  Samuel  Swift  all  the  rest 
of  my  whole  Stock  of  Neat  Cattle,  and  all  my  out  door  Implements  &  Utensills  of  Husbandry,  as  Carts,  Wheels, 
Chains,  Ploughs  and  the  like.  And  I  do  appoint  my  Negro  Man  to  be  for  the  Equall  use  and  Service  of  my 
Son  Samuel  and  my  wife  while  she  Continues  upon  my  place,  and  at  her  removeal  thence  by  Death  or  other- 
wise the  s'^  Negro  Man  to  be  the  Sole  dispose  of  my  s'  Son  Samuel;  and  my  Indian  Boy  Jehu  to  be  at  my  Son 
Samuel's  disposall  for  the  remainder  of  his  time  at  my  decease.  And  it  is  my  mind  and  will  that  my  s'^  Son 
Samuel  Swift,  out  of  that  my  Estate  given  unto  him  as  above  said,  shall  pay  unto  my  aboves'  wife  the  summe  of 
Twelve  Pounds  Pr.  .\nnum  dureing  her  naturall  life,  &  all  needfuU  firewood,  and  provide  and  maintaine  for  her 
Three  Cows  and  a  Horse  dureing  her  abode  in  Milton  as  aboves'.  And  shall  pay  unto  his  Sister  Pratt  and  her 
Children  One  Hundred  Pounds  as  abovesaid,  and  unto  Thomas  Swift,  the  reputed  Son  of  Thomas  Swift,  Ten 
Shillings  as  aboves'.  And  my  will  is  that  my  wive's  Three  Cows  afores'',  and  all  the  moveables  before  given 
unto  her  which  remain  at  her  my  s'  wife's  decease,  be  for  my  s"*  Son  John  Swift  and  his  Heirs. 

Lastly.  I  do  hereby  constitute  and  appoint  my  Two  before  named  Sons,  John  and  Samuel  Swift,  to  be  the 
Executors  of  this  my  Last  Will  and  Testament.  In  Testimony  whereof  I,  the  said  Thomas  Swift,  have  hereunto 
set  my  hand  and  Seal  the  day  and  Year  first  above  written.  ,  , — ' — ,  - 

THOMAS  SWIFT.  i.  seal  V 

Signed,  Sealed,  Published  &  Declared  by  the  s''  Thomas  Swift,  the  '^  — .,— '  ' 

Testator,  as  and  for  his  Last  will  and  Testament,  in  pres- 
ence of  us. 

Edward  Mills,  Jun', 
Samuel  Kneeland, 
Edward  Mills. 
Suffolk,  ss.  By  the  Hon'''*  Samuil  Sewall,  Esq.,  Judge  of  Probate,  etc. 

The  aforegoing  Will  being  presented  for  Probate  by  John  and  Samuel  Swift,  Executors  within  Named, 
Edward  Mills  and  Samuel  Kneeland  made  Oath  that  they  Saw  Thomas  Swift,  the  Subscriber  to  the  aforegoing 
Instrument,  Sign,  Seal,  and  heard  him  publish  and  Declare  the  same  to  be  his  last  Will  and  Testament.  And 
that  when  he  so  did  he  was  of  Sound  Disposing  mind  and  memory  according  to  these  Depon"'  best  Discern- 
ing. And  that  together  with  Edward  Mills,  Jun',  (now  at  Marblehead,)  set  to  their  names  as  witnesses 
thereof  in  the  presence  of  the  said  Testator. 

Boston,  February  2o'^  1717.  Samuil  Sewall. 

John  Swift  of  Framingham,  Gent, 
Samuel  Swift  of  Milton,  Yeoman, 
Thomas  Thatcher  of  Boston,  Brasier, 
James  Tilestone  of  s''  Boston,  Carpenter, 

all  of  the  county  of  Suffolk,  gave  bonds  in  the  sum  of  Two  thousand  dollars  for  the  fullfilment  of  the  will 
Feb.  5,  1718.     Lib.  20,  Fol.  224. 

4 
Ecb.  3oiju'  Stoift,  (Thomas''  Tlwmas\)  b.  in  Milton  Mar.    14,  167S-9;    d.  Apr.  24, 
1745  ;   m.  Dec.  i6,  1701,  Sarah,  (b.  Sept,  7,  1671  ;   d.  Feb.  i,  1747,  ?e.  73  yrs.)  dau. 
of  Timothy  Tileston  of  Dorchester. 

CHILDREN. 
Sarah,  b.  Sept.  16,  1702;  dead  in  1745;  adm.  to  Church  Mar.  24,  172S;  m.  June  0,  1729,  Eben 

Roby  of  Sudbury. 
Elizabeth,  b.  Mar.  26,  1704;  d.  Apr.  12,  1739;  adm.  to  Church  Mar.  24,  172S;  m.  Apr.  15, 

1 731,  Rev.  James  Stone  of  HoUiston. 
Anne,  b.  July  5,  1706;  d. ;  m.  Dec.  5,  1733,  Rev.  Phillips  Payson,  H.  C.  1724; 

settled. at  Walpole.     Four  of  their  sons  were  settled  ministers:      Rev.  Phillips  Payson,  D. 

D.,  H.  C.  1754;  ord.  at  Chelsea  26  Oct.,  1757.      Rev.  Samuel    Payson,   H.   C.   1758;    ord.  at 

Lunenburg  Sept.,  1762.    Rev.  John  Payson,  H.  C.  1764;  ord.  at  Fitchburg  27  Jan.,  1768.    Rev. 

Scth  Payson,  D.  D.,  H.  C.  1777;    ord.  Rindge,  N.  IL,  4  Dec,   17S2,  father  of  Rev.  Edward 

Payson,  D.  D.,  of  Portland,  Me.,  H.  C.  1S03. 
Marv,  b.  Nov.  16,  1 70S;   unm.  in  1745. 
Martha,  b. ;  m.  Oct.   13,   1740,  Major  John  Farrar  of  Framingham.     She  died 

about  1749. 
0.     3oljn,  b.  Jan.  14,  1713-14. 


THOMAS  SWIFT   OF  DORCHESTER.  II 

Rev.  John  Swift  was  the  senior  minister  of  the  Marlboro'  Association  of  ministers 
at  the  time  of  its  formation,  although  the  name  of  Robert  Breck  stands  first  on  the 
list  of  members.  He  graduated  at  Harvard  College  in  1697,  and  was  ordained  as 
the  first  minister  of  Framingham  Oct.  8,  1701.  His  ministry  was  conducted  with 
faithfulness  and  prudence;  and  not  a  notice  occurs  in  all  the  transactions  of  the 
town  in  any  degree  qualifying  the  respect  and  estimation  in  which  he  was  held.  Of 
his  ability  as  a  preacher  we  have  ho  means  of  judging.  His  printed  sermons  are 
marked  with  a  pure  and  classical  taste.  He  was  free  from  all  affectation  of  style  as 
well  as  extravagance  of  zeal,  or  rashness  of  opinion.  The  subject  of  his  ordinary 
discourses,  as  one  may  infer  from  his  own  diary,  were  often  suggested  by  passing 
events.  Some  of  these  discourses  bear  marks  of  extemporaneous  composition. 
Thus  he  notes  on  one  occasion  his  preaching  from  the  words  "  The  voice  of  the  Lord 
is  upon  the  waters;  the  God  of  glory  thundereth;"  adding,  "it  being  a  day  of 
thunder."  A  day  of  extreme  severity  suggested  the  text:  "Who  can  stand  before 
his  cold?"  And  a  few  weeks  later,  doubtless  while  the  snow  drifted  through  the 
crevices  of  the  ancient  and  dilapidated  meeting-house,  the  motto  of  his  sermon  was 
"a  covert  from  the  storm."  The  halt  of  a  detachment  of  soldiers  in  the  village 
induced  him  to  discourse  from  the  word  "  a  devout  soldier."  Mr.  Swift  preached 
the  Election  Sermon  in  1732  ;  also  a  discourse  on  the  occasion  of  the  death  of  the 
Rev.  Robert  Breck  of  Marlborough  in  1731  ;   both  of  which  were  printed. 

He  is  spoken  of  as  a  wise  counsellor  and  good  man  of  a  well  cultivated  mind, 
and  held  in  great  esteem  in  the  churches.  His  salary  was  £^0,  equal  to  $233.33  !  to 
which,  in  the  latter  part  of  his  ministry  on  account  of  the  sickness  of  his  wife,  an 
additional  grant  of  $10  was  added.  He  is  said  to  have  been  a  correspondent  of 
Dean  Swift.  He  died  April  24,  1745,  in  the  4Sth  year  of  his  ministry  and  the  67th 
year  of  his  age.     See  Hist,  of  Framingham,  and  Hist,  of  the  Worcester  Association. 

The  following  letter  respecting  the  division  of  Framingham  is  interesting,  as 
giving  one  some  idea  of  the  situation  of  a  country  minister  at  that  period : 

Framingham  June  7,  1731. 

Sir: — 

I  hear  that  the  Hon'''*  House  of  Representatives  have  granted  a  Division  of  the  Town  of  Framing- 
ham (which  upon  30  years'  Experience  or  more  of  the  capacity  of  the  s''  Town)  I  fear  will  prov.  subversive  to 
the  best,  especially  religious.  Interests  of  the  Said  Town. 

Such  a  Division,  Sir,  would  be  a  great  Ease  to  me  in  my  Official  performances  were  the  Town  capable  of  it; 
but  by  reason  of  the  Town's  deficiency  in  the  payment  of  my  dues,  and  trouble  they  have  given  me  about  my 
Settlement,  I  have  been  greatly  impoverished.  Spent  a  Considerable  part  of  my  paternal  estate  to  Support  the 
Ministry  in  Framingham,  as  I  can  easily  make  to  appear. 

Settling  in  the  year  1700,  before  there  was  any  paper  currency  in  the  Governm'.  (as  I  suppose),  and  having 
had  but  an  inconsiderable  allowance  for  the  Change  of  the  Species,  I  can't  suppose  my  Loss  to  be  much  (if  any- 
thing) short  of  1000/'.  The  Deficiency  of  the  arrears  since  the  Town  had  a  discharge  or  receipt  in  full  from 
me,  which  I  know  ought  to  be  made  good,  and  am  well  informed  are  recoverable  in  the  Law,  together  with  new 
charges  which  will  accrue  unavoidably,  will  be  what  one -half  part  of  Framingham  (notwithstanding  their  num- 
bers) cannot  accomplish  without  help,  in  my  humble  opinion,  verte  Dominie.  In  the  year  1729  the  Hon'''* 
House  of  Representatives  received  it  for  good  doctrine.  I  think,  viz",  that  our  Hon''''  Legislature  have  it  in  their 
power  to  make  reasonable  allowance  for  the  discount  upon  the  paper  currency  whereby  Minist"'  small  annuityes 
are  much  diminished,   And  I  depend  (under  God)  upon  the  Goodness  &  Justice  of  his  Excellency  &  the  Hon- 


12  GENEALOGY  OF  THE  FAMILY  OF 

ourable  Board  that  nothing  shall  be  done  to  my  hurt.     If  there  should  be  any  occasion,  I  pray.  Sir,  that  you 
would  communicate  these  lines,  as  in  your  wisdom  you  Shall  See  meet,  and  you  will  greatly  oblige 

\'  Obedient  &  humble  Servant, 

JOHN  SWIFT. 
To  the  Hon''"' 

John  Willard,  Esq', 
Boston. 

Deliver 
Mass.  Archives  Lib.  1 14,  fol.  56. 

OBITUARY. 

[  From  the  Boston  Evening  Post  of  May  13th,  1745.] 

Framinghara,  May  8.  On  the  24th  of  the  last  Month  died  here,  after  a  long  and  tedious  Indisposition,  the 
Rev.  Mr.  John  Swift,  the  first  Pastor  of  the  Church  in  this  Place,  in  the  67th  Year  of  his  Age,  and  the  45th  Year 
of  his  Ministry.  As  he  was  a  Gentleman  of  considerable  natural  Powers,  so  he  acquired  a  considerable  Degree 
of  human  and  useful  Learning.  He  particularly  excelled  in  Rhetoric,  and  Oratory,  and  as  a  Critic  in  the  Greek 
Language.  His  Piety  was  sincere  and  eminent :  His  Preaching  was  sound  and  Evangelical.  As  a  Pastor  he 
was  diligent,  faithful  and  prudent;  and  in  his  Conversation  he  was  sober,  grave  and  profitable;  yet  aft'able, 
courteous  and  pleasant.  He  was  a  lover  of  Hospitality,  and  kept  his  Heart  and  his  House  open  to  all  good  People. 
When  he  received  Injuries  at  any  Time,  he  bore  them  with  singular  Discretion  and  Meekness;  and  the  various 
Trials  and  Sorrows  with  which  he  was  exercised,  especially  the  latter  part  of  his  Life,  gave  Occasion  for  shewing 
forth  his  Wisdom,  Humanity,  Patience,  and  Resignation  to  the  Divine  Will.  He  was  had  in  high  Esteem  by  the 
Association  to  which  he  belonged,  and  respected  by  all  who  had  any  Acquaintance  with  his  real  Character  and 
Merits. 

The  following  inscription,  from  his  monument  in  the  Framingham  graveyard,  is 
printed  in  the  history  of  that  town  : 

HIC  JACET 

Qui  oblit  A.  D.  1745,  Aprills  Qd'" 

/Etatisque  anno  67""° 

VIR  ILLE  REVERENDUS  D.  JOHANNES  SWIFT 

Dotibus  et  nativis  et  acquisitis  ornatus  ; 

Docendi  Artifex,  Exemplar  Vivendi, 

Felix,  dum  vixit, 

Mores  exhibens  secundunn  Divinas  Regulas, 

Episcopo  necessarios 

Commlscens  Prudentiam  Serpentis,  Columbaeque, 

Innocentiam  ; 

Commercium  cum  eo  habentlbus, 

In  vita  Percfiarus, 

Atque  gratam  sui,  etsi  moestam,  Memorlam 

Post  mortem,  lis  relinquens  : 

Qui  per  varies  casus,  variaque  Rerum  Discrimina 

Atque  usque  ad  mortem 

Raram  dlscretlonem,  Modestiam,  Patientiam, 

Voluntatique  Supremi  Numinis  Submissionem 

Spectandam  prcebens ; 

Jam  tandam  in  Domino  requievit 

Adoptlonem 

Scilicet,  Corporis  obruti  Redemtionem 

Expectabundus. 


THOMAS  SWIFT  OF  DORCHESTER.  13 


TRANSLATION. 

Here  lies  the  Reverend  John  Swift,  who  died  in  1745,  April  24th,  in  the 
67th  year  of  his  age.  Adorned  with  gifts  both  native  and  acquired;  he 
was  a  master  in  the  art  of  teaching;  a  model  of  living,  conforming  all  his 
acts  to  the  divine  laws.  To  all  those  with  whom  he  had  to  do  he  exhibited 
the  wisdom  of  the  serpent  and  the  innocence  of  the  dove.  While  livino-  he 
was  very  much  beloved,  and  he  left  at  death  a  grateful  though  mournful  mem- 
ory to  his  friends.  Through  many  scenes  and  trials,  and  even  unto  death,  he 
manifested  a  rare  discretion,  modesty,  patience  and  submisson  to  the  Divine  Will. 
He  at  length  rests  with  the  Lord,  looking  for  the  adoption  that  is  the  redemp- 
tion of  the  body. 

WILL. 
The  following  Will,  dated  September,  1743,  commences  with  the  usual  formula: 

Imp'.  My  Will  is  That  my  just  Debts  and  funeral  Charges  be  duly  paid  or  discharged  bv  mv  Ex- 
ecutor. t=  1       , 

Item.  I  give  and  bequeath  unto  Sarah,  my  Well  beloved  Wife  (in  lieu  of  Dower  &-  Thirds)  the  use  & 
Improvement  of  my  House  in  Framingham,  of  late  years  used  for  mv  Studv,  as  also  of  the  Land  and  conven- 
iences adjommg,  &  therewith  used  distinct  from  my  former;  and  other  improvements,  &  one  Bed  and  furniture 
(of  which  my  said  mfe  to  have  her  Choice,)  and  so  much  of  mv  Other  Household  Goods  as  shall  be  Judged 
necessary  and  convenient  in  order  to  her  keeping  house  there,  as  also  the  benefit  of  one  Cow,  to  be  kept  "for  her 
use  Winter  and  Summer,  annually  during  her  widowhood,  and  I  further  give  &  bequeath  unto  my  said  Wife  one 
purse  with  Some  Silver  Money  therein  (Which  may  be  found  in  the  Till  of  my  chest  under  Some  writings)  •  and 
further,  my  Will  is  That  my  Said  Wife  he  Supplied  (out  of  the  Income  of  mv  Real  Estate)  with  whatsoever 
shall  be  further  needful  for  her  comfortable  &  Decent  Support  &  maintenance  during  her  Widowhood  as  afore- 
said, and  for  a  Decent  funeral  after  Death. 

Item.  I  give  and  bequeath  unto  my  Son  John  Sunft  (Minister  of  Acton,)  whom  I  likewise  Constitute  Sole 
Executor  of  this  my  Will,  my  Whole  Library,  Books  and  Manuscript,  also  my  Watch  and  my  Negro-man  named 
or  called  Francis.  .\lso  all  my  Right  &  Interest  of  Lands  at  a  place  called  or  known  by  the  name  of  Dorchester 
Canada;  Which  Right  of  Lands  were  Derived  to  me  on  ace'  of  my  Brother  William  Swift,  who  (n-ith  many 
others)  perished  in  the  first  Expedition  against  Canada;  To  him,  my  said  son  John,  and  To  his  heirs  and 
assigns  forever. 

Item.  I  give  &  bequeath  unto  my  Son-in-Law,  Ebenezer  Robye,  Esq.,  &  to  his  heirs  and  assi<'ns 
my  Negro  man  named  or  called  Nero,  or  such  sum  in  Bills  of  Credit  as  he  shall  be  valued  at  by  a  lust 
appraizer.  '      ' 

_    Item.     I  give   and  bequeath  unto  my  son-in-Law,  M'  Philips  Payson.  (minister  of  Walpole.)  and   to   his 
heirs  t\:  assigns,  my  Negro  Named  or  called  Guy. 

Item.  My  Will  is  that  my  other  Two  Negros,  namely.  Dido  and  Esther,  serve  with  my  aboves'  Wife  on  her 
Order  during  her  life,  and  after  her  Decease  with  my  Daughter  Farrar,  her  heirs  or  assigns. 

Item.  My  Will  is  That  all  my  Housing  and  Lands  in  Framingham,  Stoughton  and  Elsewhere  \rith 
.  all  my  Personal  Estate  of  what  kind,  nature  or  Denomination  Soever  (other  than  what  is  above  men- 
tioned &  bequeathed)  be  Divided  in  five  even  &  Equal  parts  or  shares  to  and  among  the  rest  of  my 
Children  &  Grand  Children  in  Manner  following:  That  is  to  say,  one-fifth  part  thereof  to  mv 
Daughter  Anne  Payson;  one-fifth  part  thereof  to  my  Daughter  Mary  S"-ift;  one-fifth  part  thereof 
to  my  Daughter  Martha  Farrar;  And  one-fifth  part  thereof  (to  be  Distributed  part  &  part  ahke) 
to  and  among  the  Children  of  my  Daughter  Sarah  Robye,  Dec'd;  and  one-fifth  part  thereof  in  like 
manner  to  and  among  the  Children  of  my  Daughter  EUzabeth  Stone,  Dec'd.  To  them,  their  heirs  and 
assigns  respectively  forever. 

r-  ^}^"^^  }^^'  ^^''^  '^  "^^^^  ™^  Surviving  Daughters,  together  with  such  as  shall  be  appointed  Guardian  to  mv 
Grand  Children,  may  (if  they  apprehend  it  needful  or  profitable)  make  Sale  of  Housing  and  Lands  to  them 
bequeathed  as  afores'\  or  any  part  thereof,  during  the  minority  of  mv  Grand  children,  or  any  of  them-  and 
I  accordingly  authorize  &  Impower  them  so  to  do,  by  passing  good  and  authentick  Deed  or  Deeds  of 
the  same.      And  I  do  hereby  utterly  Revoke,   Disannul  &  make  void  all  other  Wills,    Bequests   or   Execut" 


14  GENEALOGY  OF  THE  FAMILY  OF 

by  me  in  any  wise  before  Named,  Willed  or  bequeathed;  Ratifying  and  confirming  this  &  none  other  to 
be  my  last  Will  and  Testament.  In  Witness  whereoft'  I  have  hereunto  set  my  hand  &  Seal  the  day  cV:  date 
within  written. 

JOHN  SWIFT.  I  SEAL  I 

Signed,  Sealed,  published  &  declared  by  the  mthin  named  John  Swift,  as  his  last 
Will  &  Testament,  In  the  presence  of  us  the  Subscribers,  who  set  to  our 
names  as  Witnesses  in  the  said  Testator's  presence. 

William  pike, 
Stephen  Ballakd, 
Mary  Farrar. 
her  X  mark. 

This  Codicil  or  Schedule  Witnesseth  that  I,  the  within  Named  John  Swift,  in  addition  to  my  Will  bearing 
date  in  the  Month  of  September,  1 745,  Do  hereby  give  and  bequeath  unto  my  Daughter  Mary  Swift,  in  consid- 
eration of  her  Trouble,  and  in  requital  of  her  Dutiful  .i  tender  care  of  me  under  my  Weakness,  my  silver 
Tankard,  also  my  Horse  &  Shayes  over  &  above  what  is  expressed  in  my  said  Will;  hereby  Ratifying  &  Confirm- 
ing the  said  Will,  with  Codicil,  to  be  my  last  Will  &  Testament.  In  witness  whereof  I  have  hereunto  set  my 
hand  &  seal  this  nth  day  of  June,  A.  D.  1744.  ,  <-'^  , 

JOHN  SWIFT.  I  seal  | 

In  the  presence  of 

Joseph  Buckminster,  Jun., 
Willia.m  pike. 
.Stephen  Ballard. 


JSeb.  Ilo!)n  Stot'ft,''  (Jolm,^  Thomas,''  Thomas,^)  born  in  Framingham  Jan.  14, 
1713-14;  d.  Nov.  7,  1776, 3e.  61  yrs. ;  m.  Nov.  19,  1740,  Abigail,  (b.  July  20,  1717 ; 
d.  Mar.  18,  17S2,  in  the  63d  year  of  her  age,)  dau.  of  Jeremiah  and  Rebecca  Adams, 
of  Medway. 

CHILDREN. 
1.  I.    3ol)n,  b.  Nov.  18,  1741. 

Mr.  Swift  was  graduated  at  Harvard  College  in  1733,  and  the  same  year  was 
schoolmaster  in  Framingham.  In  May,  1738,  he  received  an  unanimous  invitation 
to  settle  in  the  ministry  at  Acton,  and  the  following  8th  of  November  was  ordained 
He  first  received  .^250  as  a  settlement,  and  ^^^150  as  an  annual  salary  —  to  be  made 
of  equal  value  should  the  currency  depreciate.  This  sum  was  altered  several  times, 
and  at  last  permanently  fixed  at  £'/0  lawful  money. 

During  the  prevalence  of  the  small  pox  in  Acton,  in  1775,  he  was  severely 
attacked  by  the  disease,  and  never  able  to  preach  afterwards. 

He  was  a  little  above  the  common  height,  rather  slender,  of  pleasing  address  and 
manners ;  opposed  to  excess  and  extravagance  of  every  kind,  and  was  a  gentleman 
of  talent,  learning  and  piety,  though  occasionally  facetious,  witty  and  eccentric. 

His  sermon,  preached  at  the  ordination  of  the  Rev.  Joseph  Lee  of  Royalston, 
was  published. 


THOMAS  SWIFT  OF  DORCHESTER.  15 

WILL. 
His  will,  dated  October  24,  1775,  commences  in  the  usual  manner: 

Imprimis.  I  «-ill  that  all  my  just  debts  and  funeral  charges  be  well  and  truly  paid  in  convenient  time  after 
my  decease. 

Item.  I  give  unto  my  beloved  Wife  Abigail  Swift  my  Horse  and  Chaise  and  Eighty  pounds  lawful  money, 
together  with  two-thirds  part  of  all  the  remainder  of  my  personal  estate,  money,  &c.,  to  be  at  her  disposal 
forever;  and  likewise  the  improvement  of  two-thirds  part  of  all  my  Real  Estate  lying  in  Acton,  so  long  as  she 
remains  my  widow. 

Item.  I  give  unto  my  only  Son,  John  Swift,  all  the  remainder  of  my  Real  and  personal  Estate  lying  in 
Acton,  not  before  disposed  of.  My  will  is  that  my  said  Son  John  shall  come  in  possession  of  the  whole  of  my 
Real  Estate  lying  in  .\cton,  after  my  wife's  marriage  or  decease. 

I  give  unto  my  Grand  Children,  HoUis  and  Luther,  all  my  lands  in  .\shburnham  in  the  County  of  Worcester, 
in  the  province  aforesaid,  to  be  equally  divided  between  them  in  quality.  My  Will  is  that  if  either  of  my  said 
Grand  Children  should  die  in  minority,  or  when  in  a  single  state,  the  whole  of  said  lands  in  Ashburnham  I  give 
to  the  other  surviving  grand  son.  Furthermore,  I  do  hereby  constitute  and  appoint  my  beloved  wife  Abigail  and 
my  son  John  Swift  to  be  Executors  to  this  my  will  and  testament. 

JOHN  SWIFT.  I  SEAL  I 

Signed,  sealed,  and  pronounced  to  be  his  last  will  and  testament  before 

Edward  Sprague, 
Daniel  Adams, 
Abel  Fisk. 


Dr.  3a{jn5  Stoift,  (John*  Johit^,  Thomas,''  Thomas,^)  b.  in  Acton  Nov.  18,  1741 ; 
H.  C.  1762  ;  physician  of  Acton;  d.  Dec.  23,  1781,  in  his  40th  year.  He  m.  Catha- 
rine Davis  of  Acton,  b.  May  6,  1748.     She  had  a  second  husband.  Dr.  Whitman. 

CHILDREN. 

John  Hollis,  b.  ,  176S;  d.  Sept.  iS,  1793,  unm, 

William  Pitt,  b.  Mch.  3,  1771;  d.  Mch  26,  1774. 

Jeremiah  Adams,  b. ,  1772;  d.  Mch.  31,  1774. 

S.     ILutljcr,''  b.  April  20,  1 775 ; 


Eutljrr  Siriift,5  (Johti,*  John,'^  Thomas,''  Thomas,'')  b.  April  20,  1775  ;   d.  Dec.  6, 
1857;    m. 1798,  Hannah  Brown,  b.  May  26,  1777;    d.  July  25,  1850. 

CHILDREN. 

John  Hollis,  b.  Dec.  12,  1799;  d.  s.  p.  Feb.  15,  1S63;  m.  Jan.  11,  1S22,  Hannah  H.  Pulcifer;  b. 

abt.  1799;   d.  Feb.  29,  1864. 
Catharine,  b.  Jan.  23,  1S02;  d.  Feb.  23,  1803. 
Catharine  Eliza,  b.  Aug.  21,  1804;  d.  Apr.  9,  1S07. 
9.    teilliam  13itt,  b.  Apr.  30,  1S06. 

Caroline,  b.  June  3,  1809;  d.  May  22,  1882;  unm. 


1 6  GENEALOGY  OF  THE  FAMILY  OF 


railliam'  I3itt  Stoift,  (Luther,^  7ohn=  John,*  Johu,^  Thomas,-'  Thomas,')  b.  April 
30,  1806;    d.  Dec.  20,  1857  ;    m.  Mar.  30,  1835,  Abigail,  (b.  Dec.  1813,)  dau.  of  Asa 

and  Mary  (Leach)  Shaw,  of  Norton,  Mass.     She  m.  a  second  husband French, 

who  died  in  1878.     She  resides  in  Malboro',  Mass. 

CHILDREN. 

William  Tcikter,  b.  April  21,  1S36;  d.  May  5,  1S3S. 

John,  b.  April  28,   183S;   member  of  Co.  D,  2ist  Reg't.     Served  3  years  in  the  Union  Army. 

Residence,  Sioux  City;   m.  in  1S66  Eliza  A.  Pratt,  of  Fitchburg. 
Lizzie  F.,  b.  Jan.  23,  1S40;  m.  May  7,  i860,  Luther  F.  Read  of  Westford,  b.  Feb.  i,  1S3S;   killed  at 

the  battle  of  .\ntietam  Sept.   17,  1S62.     She  next  m.  Nov.  26,  1870,  \Vm.  F.  Hale  of  Acton, 

b.  Nov.  7,  1840;   served  nine  months  in  the  Union  army.    Res.  Stow.     [I  am  indebted  to  Mrs. 

Hale  for  the  information  concerning  the  later  generations  of  her  branch  of  the  family.] 
Abby,  b.  Aug.  16,  1841;   d.  Jan.  9,  184S. 
Geo.  Loring,  b.  Sept.   17,  1S42;  d.  May  21,   1S76.     Served  three  years  in  the  Union  Army, Co. 

F,   13th  Reg't;   m.  Sept.  27,    1864,   Mary  L.   Watson  of  Fitchburg,  b.  June   3,   1838.     They 

had  two  children,  Sarah  Abby  and  Willie. 
Joseph  Albert,  b.  Dec.  10,  1S43.     Served  three  years  in  the  Union  Army;    reenlisted  in   1S64; 

wounded  at  the  battle  of  Winchester,  Va.,  Sept.  19,  1S64;   d.  in  hospital  Oct.  12,  1S64.* 
Sarah,  b.  April  2,  1845. 
Lucy  W.,  b.  July  28,  1S46;  m.  Dec.  4,  1867,  Joshua  W.  Carr  of  Stow,  b.  May  26,  1844;   served 

three  years  in  the  Union  Army.     Residence,  Stow,  Mass. 
Nathan,  b.  Mar.  20,  1848.     Residence,  Marlboro,  Mass. 
Isaac,  b.  Oct.  10,  1849;  d.  Sept.  28,  1874. 
Annie,  b.  Sept.  22,  1851;   m.  Charles  Sprinks  of  .Albany,  N.  Y.,  Nov.,  1S71.     He  d.  June  14,  1879. 

Residence,  93  Broad  Street,  Lynn. 
Emma  S.,  b.  June  6,  1853. 

William  Henry,  b.  Aug.  4,  1854;   m.  June  3,  1878,  Mary  E.  Walcott  of  Stow.     Residence,  Marl- 
boro, Mass.     They  had  one  child,  Clarence  L.  Swift,  who  d.  Oct.  8,  1881,  at  9  mos.  21  ds. 

*He  wrote  home  from  war  as  follows :  — 

In  the  Hospital  at  Winchester,  Va.,  Sept.  26,  '64. 
Dear  Mothek  :  — 

I  now  write  you  a  few  more  lines  to  let  you  know  that  I  am  getting  along  nicely,  although  the 
ball  has  not  been  found  yet.  I  think  it  has  struck  some  of  the  cords,  but  I  hope  not,  for  it  may  give  me  a  stiff 
leg  for  life;  then  I  should  have  to  be  discharged,  and  I  don't  want  that  you  know,  for  1  like  soldiering  too  well. 
I  like  it  as  well  as  ever.  Now  do  nut  worry  about  me  for  I  have  the  best  of  spirits,  and  care  too.  This  is  what  - 
I  enlisted  for,  and  what  I  have  got;  and  what  I  would  do  again  if  I  were  at  home.  I  am  glad  that  George  did 
not  reenlist,  for  two  is  enough.     I  wish  that  John  had  not,  for  he  is  so  sick  of  it. 

John  Brown  bore  the  colors.  He  did  it  well,  too;  he  had  his  leg  broken,  but  he  will  not  lose  it.  He  and 
I  fell  near  together  so  we  are  in  the  same  hospital.  Our  Acton  captain  has  gone  to  Harper's  Ferry  and  we  shall 
go  soon;   then  you  can  write  to  me. 

Write  to  John  and  tell  him  we  had  a  glorious  victory.     Bully  for  that ! 

I  must  close  for  the  present;   love  to  all  and  don't  worry.     This  is  from  your  loving  son, 

JOSEPH  A.  SWIFT. 

He  was  but  a  boy  when  he  enHsted,  only  about  seventeen  years  old,  and  very  small  of  his  age.  He  was 
told  that  they  would  not  take  him.  "  Yes  they  will,"  he  said,  "  for  I  have  just  made  my  heels  three  inches 
higher,  and  they  will  have  to  take  me."  When  he  reenlisted  and  came  home  his  sister  said  to  him  she  was  sorry, 
and  he  replied,  "  I  am  not,  for  what  is  my  life  good  for  if  we  have  not  our  freedom?" 

The  John  Brown  referred  to  was  his  schoolmate.  They  enlisted  together,  and  he  thought  a  great  deal  of 
him.  Young  Swift  bled  to  death  from  his  wounds,  and  was  brought  home  and  buried  in  Stow.  His  friend  died 
in  a  few  days  after. 


THOMAS  SWIFT  OF  DORCHESTER.  I  7 


ffol.  Samuel'  Stoift,*  (Thomas,"  Thotnas')  of  Milton,  where  he  was  b.  Dec.  10, 
1683;  d.  Oct.  13,  1747;  m.  Nov.  6,  1707,  Ann,  (d.  May  19,  1769)  dau.  of  Thomas 
Holman,  a  prominent  cilizen  of  Milton. 

CHILDREN. 

Thomas,  b.  Feb.  16,  1709-10;  m.  Aug.  23,  1739,  Elizabeth  Crehore,  who  d.  Aug.  23,  17S2,  x.  71. 

Had  a  dau.  EUzabeth,  b.  Jan.  9,  1 741-2. 
Sar.\h,  b.  Apr.  28,  171 1 ;   m.  May  19,  1730,  John  Adams. 
Anna,  b.  Aug.  28,  1712;  m.  Aug.  28,  1739,  Solomon  Kersey,  of  Hingham. 
Patience,  b.  Mar.  19,  1714;  d.  Aug.  12,  1714. 
10.    Samuel,  b.  June  9,  1715. 

Ebenezer,  b.  Dec.  6,  1716;   d.  Aug.,  1717. 

Patience,  b.  Feb.  3,  1717-18;  m.  May  29,  1739,  Ebenezer  Wadsworth. 

11.  ^atfjnnitl,  b.  Sept.  25,  1719. 

John,  b.  Jan.  23,  1 720-1;  housewright  of  Milton  in  1748;  probably  d.  unm. 
Abigail,  bapt.  Nov.  ii,  1722. 

12.  lEbcntjcr,  b.  May  24,  1724. 

Col.  Swift  was  one  of  the  wealthiest  and  most  influential  men  of  Milton.  He 
inherited  his  father's  capacity  for  public  affairs,  and  we  early  find  him  filling  such 
offices  as  constable,  tythingman,  surveyor  of  the  highways,  and  so  forth.  He  later 
became  a  judge  of  the  court  of  common  pleas,  colonel  of  the  militia,  representative 
to  the  general  court,  moderator  of  the  town-meetings,  and  filled  the  office  of  select- 
man almost  constantly  from  1725  to  his  death  in  1747.  In  1727  he  was  on  the  com- 
mittee to  build  the  meeting-house,  and  in  1729-30  one  of  four  who  paid  the  highest 
rate,  and  had  his  pew  "  first  in  the  right  hand  going  up  the  broad  alley."  He  is 
designated  in  the  town  records  by  the  various  military  titles  from  ensign  to  colonel. 

The  position  he  so  many  years  sustained  in  the  town  tends  to  confirm  the  tradi- 
tion that  he  was  austere  and  of  an  arbitrary  temper.  Our  imagination  pictures  him 
as  a  man  of  commanding  aspect,  with  the  dignified  manner  of  his  time  —  such  a 
man  as  we  see  in  the  portraits  of  Smybert  and  Copley.  The  impress  of  his  character 
is  seen  in  many  of  his  descendants,  who  have,  in  addition  to  ability,  been  distin- 
guished by  many  of  the  social  graces  of  life,  a  general  elegance  of  bearing,  and 
much  personal  beauty — those  gifts  which  are  seldom  to  be  met  with  save  through  a 
goodly  ancestry. 

The  gravestones  of  Mr.  and  Mrs.  Swift  are  among  the  largest  and  finest  in  the 
Milton  cemetery,  and  are  illustrated  in  this  work. 

WILL. 

In  the  Name  of  God  Amen,  This  Third  day  of  May  in  the  Year  of  our  Lord  one  Thousand 
Seven  Hundred  Forty  &  Five.     And  in  the  Eighteenth  Year  of  the  Reign  of  our  Sovereign  Lord  George  the 

*  Continued  from  page  seven.  The  line  of  Rev.  John  Svrift,  brother  of  Col.  Samuel,  being  continued 
through  three  generations  by  only  one  son,  in  order  to  simpUfy  matters  I  deemed  it  best  to  complete  that  branch 
before  taking  up  the  line  of  Col.  Samuel. 


f8  GENEALOGY  OF  THE  FAMILY  OF 

Second,  King  of  Great  Britain,  &c.— I  Samuel  Swift  of  Milton  in  the  County  of  Suffolk,  mthin  His  Majes- 
ties Pronnce  of  the  Massachusetts  Bay  in  Xew-England,  Esq'.,  being  at  present  in  a  competent  measure  of 
bodily  Health,  and  of  perfect  Mind  and  Memory,  Thanks  he  given  to  God  therefor:  But  calling  to  mind  the 
mortality  of  my  Body,  and  Knowing  that  it  is  appointed  unto  all  men  once  to  Dye,  do  make  and  ordain  this  my 
last  Will  and  Testament;  That  is  to  say,  Principally,  and  first  of  all,  I  Give  and  Recommend  my  Soul  into 
the  Hands  of  God  that  gave  it;  trusting  alone  for  Salvation  in  Merits  and  Righteousness  of  JeSUS  Christ 
my  only  SaWour  and  Redeemer;  And  my  Body  I  Recommend  to  the  Earth,  to  be  Buried  in  decent  Christian 
Burial,  at  the  discretion  of  my  Executors  hereafter  named ;  not  at  all  doubting  but  at  the  general  Resurrection 
of  the  Dead  I  shall  receive  the  same  again  by  the  mighty  power  of  God.  And  as  touching  such  worldly  estate 
wherewith  it  has  pleased  God  to  bless  me  in  this  life,  I  Give  and  dispose  of  the  same  in  the  following  manner 
and  form. 

Imprimis,  I  Give  and  Bequeath  unto  Ann  my  well  beloved  Wife,  the  use  and  Improvement  of  y  old  or 
Easterly  end  of  my  dwelling  House,  and  the  Cellar  under  it :  Also  the  use  and  Improvement  of  all  my  Indoor 
Goods  or  Moveables  Except  my  Clock,  or  such  other  particulars  as  I  shall  here  after  mention  in  any  of  my  Chil- 
drens  Portions :  Also  the  use  and  Service  of  my  Negro  Woman  Kate.  And  also  I  Give  and  order  her  Support 
and  Subsistence  in  all  respects,  both  in  Meat  &  Drink,  and  also  in  Fuel  and  Medicine,  and  that  in  a  plentiful 
and  ample  manner  both  in  sickness  and  Health ;  to  be  found  and  provided  by  my  Son  Ebenezer  Swift.  And  I 
also  Give  her  the  use  of  my  old  Garden.  And  I  also  order  my  s''  Son  Ebenezer  to  provide  her  a  Horse  to  Ride 
on  when  ever  she  shall  have  occasion,  or  think  fit  to  use  him.  And  all  this  above  mentioned  I  give  and  provide 
for  her  so  long  as  she  shall  remain  my  Widow  and  no  longer.  Also  I  Give  and  Bequeath  unto  her  forever,  all 
the  Money  or  Cash  that  I  shall  leave  at  my  decease,  both  Silver  and  Province  or  Colony  Bills,  and  all  the  Debts 
that  may  be  due  to  me  at  my  decease,  by  Bill,  Bond,  Book  debt,  or  any  other  ways  whatsoever,  and  also  all  my 
Gold  Buttons.  And  in  Case  she  shall  Marry  again  after  my  decease  then  I  Give  her  y"  Sum  of  Fifty  pounds  in 
Province  Bills  of  the  old  tenor;   to  be  paid  her  by  my  Son  Ebenezer  within  one  year  after  her  marriage. 

Item,  I  Give  and  Bequeath  unto  my  eldest  Son  Thomas  Swift  and  to  his  Heirs  and  assigns  forever, 
that  part  of  my  Lot  of  Land  in  Milton  that  lyeth  upon  the  Southeasterly  side  of  the  Road  leading  to  Stoughton 
between  the  Lands  of  John  Newton  &  Benjamin  Sumner,  and  being  Bounded  Northwesterly  by  y*  said  Road, 
and  Southeasterly  by  Braintree  old  line  containing  about  Seventy  Acres  of  SaU  Marsh  lying  in  Dorchester,  being 
the  piece  he  now  improves,  joyning  to  the  marsh  of  Nathaniel  and  Ebenezer  Houghton :  Also  my  Cedar-swamp 
in  Stoughton  by  Mashapoag  Pond,  containing  about  Six  acres  and  one  Quarter :  And  also  the  one  half  of  my 
Stock  of  Cattle  and  Horses  according  to  Quantity  and  QuaUty,  after  what  I  have  herein  particularly  mentioned 
and  disposed  of  are  first  taken  out.  And  after  the  decease  or  Marriage  of  my  Wife,  I  give  him  my  Negro-woman 
Kate.     And  also  give  him  the  Iron  Back  that  he  now  improveth. 

Item,  I  give  and  Bequeath  unto  my  second  Son  Samuel  Swift,  the  Sum  of  Three  Hundred  pounds  in 
Bills  of  Credit  on  this  Province  of  the  old  tenor;  to  be  paid  him  by  my  Son  Ebenezer  Swift,  at  Five  equal  yearly 
payments  after  my  decease.  And  also  I  Give  him  my  two  Canes,  that  which  he  hath  already  in  possession,  and 
my  other  Cane  which  I  now  use;  Also  my  Silver  Hilted Sword;  and  my  Horse-CoU  now  about  Three  Years  old; 
and  two  Cows  which  he  shall  first  choose. 

Item,  I  Give  and  Bequeath  unto  my  Third  Son  Nathanael  Swift,  and  to  his  Heirs  &  assigns  for  ever 
The  Ten  acres  of  Land,  be  it  more  or  less,  where  he  now  hves,  with  the  House  and  Barn  standing  thereon  And 
also  my  Eight  acre  piece  of  Salt-marsh  lying  in  Dorchester,  between  y  Marsh  of  Mr.  Fove  and  Jeremiah  Tucker; 
And  also  my  Woodlot  in  Milton  lying  between  the  Parallel  Line  (so  called),  and  the  Road  leading  to  Stoughton; 
and  my  Pasture  within  fence  by  the  Meeting-house  in  Milton:  He  paying  the  Sum  of  Money  hereafter  men- 
tioned. 

Item,  I  Give  and  Bequeath  unto  my  Fourth  Son  John  Swift  and  to  the  Heirs  of  his  own  Body  lawfully 
begotten,  and  to  their  Heirs  for  ever  all  my  upland  lying  in  Dorchester  upon  the  Southeast  side  of  the  lower 
Road  leading  from  Milton  to  Boston,  containing  about  Twenty  acres,  be  it  more  or  less,  and  lyeth  between  Jere- 
miah Smiths  orchard  and  the  Land  of  Joseph  Leeds :  And  Six  acres  of  my  piece  of  Saltmarsh  joyning  to  the 
s''  upland  and  running  from  thence  down  to  Neponsit  River,  the  whole  of  the  s''  piece  of  Marsh  containing 
about  Twenty  acres;  the  s''  Six  acres  to  be  measured  off  and  to  Iv  next  to  the  Ditch  that  parts  between  my  s^ 
pieceof  Marsh,  and  the  Marsh  of  Thomas  Trott :  Also  Ten  acres  of  my  Wood-lot  lying  in  Milton  unfenced  on 
the  Easterly  side  of  y"  Way  leading  to  y  Scotch-woods  (so  called)  jovriing  to  the  land  already  mentioned  in  my 
Son  Nathanaels  Portion,  and  on  the  land  of  Colonel  Miller,  and  the  land  of  Ebenezer  Wadsworth  &  Mr.  Oxen- 
bridge  Thatcher;  the  s'  Ten  acres  to  be  measured  off  and  to  lye  next  to  the  s''  Way  to  Scotch-woods.  And  my 
Son  Ebenezer  is  to  have  liberty  to  pass  &  repass  across  y"  said  piece  unto  the  other  part  of  y  s'  Lot.  And  in 
Case  my  s''  Son  John  should  die  without  lawfull  Issue  of' his  Body,  then  what  I  have  given  him  as  aforesaid,  to 
be  equally  divided  among  my  Four  Sons  namely  Thomas  Swift,  Samuel  Swift,  Nathanael  Swift  and  Ebenezer 
Swift,  or  their  Legal  Representatives;  them  their  Heirs  and  assigns  for  ever.  I  also  give  mv  s''  Son  John  all  my 
Carpenter  &  Joyners  Tools. 

Item,     I  Give  and  Bequeath  unto  ray  Fifth  Son  Ebenezer  Swift,  my  Clock,  &  *Coat  of  Arms,  and  my 

•  Now  in  possession  of  McRee  Swift,  Esq.,  of  New  Brunswick,  New  Jersey,  and  the  same  from  which  the 
Albertype  in  this  work  is  taken. 


THOMAS  SWIFT  OF  DORCHESTER.  19 

Iron  Back  in  the  Kitchen;  And  also  I  Give  him  his  Heirs  and  assigns  for  ever,  all  the  Residue  and  Remainder 
of  my  Estate  both  Real  and  Personal  wheresoever  the  same  is  or  may  be  found,  not  heretofore  or  hereafter  par- 
ticularly mentioned  and  Disposed  of  in  this  my  last  Will :  He  paying  the  sums  of  Money  heretofore  &  here- 
after mentioned,  and  performing  what  I  have  enjoyned  him  to  do  for  his  mother  as  abovementioned. 

Item,  I  Give  and  Bequeath  unto  my  Daughter  Sarah  AdamS  the  Sum  of  One  Hundred  Pounds  in  Bdls 
of  Credit  on  this  Province  of  the  old  tenor,  to  be  paid  her  by  my  s''  Son  Nathanael  Swift  at  Three  Yearly  equal 
payments  after  my  decease.     And  I  also  give  her  my  Molatto  Girl  Dinah. 

Item,  I  Give  and  Bequeath  unto  my  Daughter  Anna  Hearsay  the  wife  of  Solomon  Hearsay  the  Sum 
of  One  Hundred  pounds  in  Bills  of  Credit  of  this  Province  of  the  old  tenor,  to  be  paid  at  Three  equal  yearly 
payments  next  after  my  Decease,  Fifty  pounds  part  thereof  to  be  paid  by  my  s'  Son  Nathanael  Swift,  and  the 
remaining  Hfiy  pounds  to  be  paid  by  my  s''  Son  Ebenezer  Swift  and  all  to  be  Deposited  in  the  Hands  of  my  s'' 
Son  Nathanael  bwift  and  he  to  have  power  to  demand  and  receive  the  same;  and  he  is  to  Improve  it  for  the 
Relief  and  benefit  of  my  s''  Daughter  Anna  &  her  Children;  and  to  distribute  y  same  at  such  times  and  in 
such  Quantity  and  bpecies  as  he  shall  judge  to  be  most  for  her  benetit.  But  in  case  the  s''  .Solomon  Hearsay 
should  decease  before  my  s'  Daughter  Anna  then  all  the  Remainder  of  the  s"  Sum  to  be  paid  into  her  hands, 
having  regard  (if  need  be)  to  the  times  of  payment  above  mentioned.  And  in  case  my  s''  Son  Nathanael 
should  decease  before  the  s'  Solomon  Hearsay  then  all  the  Power  care  and  trust  hereby  Reposed  in  my  s'  Son 
Nathanael  to  devolve  upon  my  Son  Ebenezer  Swift. 

Item,  I  Give  and  Bequeath  unto  my  Daughter  Patience  VVadsworth  the  Sum  of  one  Hundred 
pounds  old  tenor,  to  be  paid  her  by  my  s''  Son  Ebenezer  in  Province  Bills  at  Three  equal  yearly  payments  ne.xt 
after  my  decease. 

Item,  I  Give  and  Bequeath  unto  my  s""  three  Daughters,  Sarah  Adams,  Annah  Hearsay  &  Patience  Wads- 
worth,  after  the  marriage  or  decease  of  my  Wife,  all  my  Indoor  moveables,  not  before  particularly  mentioned 
and  disposed  of  in  this  my  last  Will,  to  be  Equally  divided  among  them. 

Item,  My  Will  is  that  all  my  arms  not  before  mentioned  be  distributed  as  follows.  Viz.  my  long  gun  to  my 
Son  Thomas,  my  little  Gun  that  I  had  of  brother  Pratt  to  my  Son  Ebenezer,  and  my  Case  of  Pistols  &  Holsters 
to  my  Son  Nathanael. 

Item,  My  Will  is,  and  I  do  hereby  order  that  all  my  Just  Debts  and  Funeral  Expenses,  be  discharged  and 
paid  by  my  s'  Sons  Thomas  Nathanael  and  Ebenezer  in  Equal  parts  out  of  their  own  proper  Portions;  and  to 
be  delivered  into  y«  hands  of  my  Executors  hereafter  mentioned  for  them  to  pay  when  they  shall  be  due. 

And  I  Exhort  all  my  Children  to  live  in  love  and  peace  among  themselves,  that  the  God  of  peace  may 
dwell  with  them.  And  I  desire  them  all  to  rest  Satisfied  and  Contented  with  this  my  distribution  of  my  Estate; 
wherein  my  Will  is,  that  if  any  of  my  Children  shall  be  discontented  and  give  trouble  to  any  other  of  my  Chil- 
dren or  Heirs  mentioned,  then  he,  she,  or  they,  being  so  discontented  and  giving  trouble  as  aforesaid,  shall  for- 
feit all  I  have  herein  bequeathed  to  them,  and  y  same  shall  be  equally  divided  among  all  those  of  my  Children 
as  shall  rest  Satisfied  and  Contented  with  this  disposition  of  my  Estate. 

And  I  do  hereby  Constitute  and  appoint  my  two  Sons  Thomas  Swift  and  Samuel  Swift  to  be  Co-Executors 
of  this  my  last  Will  and  Testament  And  I  do  hereby  utterly  disallow,  revoke  and  disannul  all  other  former 
Wills,  Legacies  and  Bequests,  and  Executors,  by  me  in  any  way  before  named.  Willed  and  Bequeathed;  Rati- 
fying and  Confirming  this  and  no  other  to  be  my  last  Will  and  Testament. 

In  Witness  whereof  I  the  s'*  Samuel  Swift  have  hereunto  set  my  Hand  and  Seal  the  Day  and  year  first 
above  written. 


SAME.   SWIFT. 


-j  SEAL  I 


Signed,  Sealed,  Published  Pronounced  and  Declared  by  y« 
Samuel  Swift  the  Testator  to  be  his  last  Will  and 
Testament,  in  the  presence  of  us  the  Subscribers, 

James  Blake 
Samuel  Blake 
Ruth  Blake 

Suffolk  ss :  Lib.  40,  fol.  360. 

The  will  was  proved  January  12,  1747,  but  the  following  day  Ann  Swift  appeared 
and  renounced  what  was  given  her  by  her  said  husband,  and  claimed  her  dower. 
She  made  her  will  January  9,  1855  ;  proved  July  5,  1862;  gives  five  shillings  to  her 
four  sons,  Thomas,  Samuel,  Nathaniel,  Ebenezer,  and  the  residue  of  her  estate  to  her 
three  daughters,  Sarah  Adams,  Anna  Hearsay  and  Patience  Wadsworth. 


20  GENEALOGY  OF  THE  FAMILY  OF 


lO 

Samucb  Stoift,  lEsq.,  (Samuel?  Thomas^  Thomas^)  of  Boston,  b.  in  Milton  June 
9,  1715  ;  d.  Aug.  30,  1775  ;  m.  in  1738  Eliphal,  (b.  Feb.  7,  1713,)  dau.  of  Samuel 
and  Eliphal  Tilley.  He  m.  second,  Oct.  5,  1757,  Ann,  (b.  Oct.  3,  1729;  d.  May  8, 
1788,)  dau.  of  Capt.  Hopestill  Foster,*  of  Boston. 

CHILDREN. 

Sarah,  rn.  Col.  Putnam.     Their  dau.,  Mrs.  Bryant,  was  living  in  New  London,  Ct.,  in  1S2S,  «ith  a 

son  and  a  daughter. 
Ann,  died  s.  p. 
Eliphal,  died  s.  p. 

Elizabeth,  b.  June  23,  1758;  m.  (pub.  Oct.  30,  1776,)  John  Newhall,  of  Belchertown,  and  had  a 
son,  Samuel  S.  Newhall.     She  next  m.  Col.  Jed''.  Burt,  of  Longmeadow.     No  children. 
13.     jFasttr,  h.  Jan.  20,  1760. 

Mary,  b. ,  1762;   m.  Col.  Burt  as  his  third  wife. 

U.    Snnatljan,  b.  Mar.  27,  1764. 

Lucretia,  b.  July  — ,  1767;  d.  Dec,  1830;  m.  Sept.  23,  17S7,  John  Lovering.    "A  worthy,  exem- 
plary wife,  mother  and  kind  friend." 
Philomela,  b. — — ,  1774;  m.  Elijah  Stoddard,  and  had  a  son  and  daughter. 

Mrs.  Swift  appears  from  her  diary  to  have  been  a  woman  of  more  than  ordinary 
intelligence,  and  of  great  piety. 

She  commenced  to  write  before  her  marriage,  and  continued  it,  at  intervals,  for 
many  years  after.  Her  compositions,  which  are  of  a  deeply  religious  character,  are 
mostly  in  verse,  commemorating  the  death  of  relatives  and  friends.  She  writes,  May 
6,  1758,  that  she  was  taken  into  Mr.  Byles'  church,  and  of  her  religious  duties,  etc. 
She  was  in  the  habit  of  writing  out  her  thoughts  on  the  sermons  she  heard  preached, 
and  she  often  wrote  on  passing  events,  as — on  the  frequenting  the  tavern  Saturday 
nights;  on  Lisbon  being  shaken  by  an  earthquake,  Nov.  i,  1775  ;  on  the  taking  of 
Quebec,  1759;  on  the  vanity  of  the  world;  on  the  safe  delivery  of  a  child;  on  the 
repeal  of  the  cruel  stamp  act,  May  20,  1766.  She  also  wrote  verses  on  the  death  of 
"the  universally  beloved  Capt.  Larrabee,"  and  says  "this  worthy  gentleman  departed 
this  life  in  the  75th  year  of  his  age,  lamented  by  all  who  knew  him."  In  June,  1775, 
she  is  at  Springfield,  and  writes:  "Here  I  am  in  the  woods,  Boston  being  so  sur- 
rounded by  armies  that  we  could  not  enjoy  our  home :    no  school  for  the  children, 


•  The  Foster  family,  prominent  in  the  history  of  Dorchester,  commences  with  Hopestill'  and  Patience,  whose 
son,  Capt.  Hopestill,'  m.  Mary,  dau.  of  James  Bate,  and  had,  with  other  children,  James,'  who  m.,  Oct.  7,  1680, 
second  wife,  Anna,  dau.  of  Job  Lane.  .\n  engraving  of  the  coat-of-arms  on  their  gravestone  may  be  seen  on 
p.  26,  vol.  I,  Heraldic  "Journal.  Of  their  numerous  children  was  Capt.  Hopestill'  of  Boston,  housewright,  (named 
in  his  father's  Will  and  Suf  Deeds,  L.  48,  F.  76,)  who  m.  Nov.  11,  1724,  Sarah  .Vllen,  who  d.  Sept.  6,  1772,  a; 
70  yrs.  6  mos.  He  d.  Dec.  26,  1772,  x  70  yrs.  10  mos.  The  family  IJible  of  their  son  HopestilP(brother  of  .\nn' 
Swift),  who  m.  Susannah  Wood,  is  in  possession  of  their  grandson,  James'  Foster,  of  Longwood,  son  of  John 
Hancock"  Foster,  who  m.  Elizabeth  Allen.  His  brother,  David  W.'  Foster,  of  Boston,  has  the  manuscript  of 
Ann  Swift.     (For  an  account  of  the  earlier  generation,  see  Hist,  of  Dor.,  p.  1 18,  and  Savage  Gen.  Did.) 


THOMAS  SWIFT  OF  DORCHESTER.  21 


» 


and  the  town  forsaken  by  the  ministers  —  the  pillars  of  the  land."     About  this  time 
she  wrote  the  following  letter : 

Capt.  Handfield,  S^ 

Your  kindness  in  undertaking  to  get  a  pass  for  me  emboldens  me  to  ask  the  like  favor  for  my  dear  husband 
whom  I  hear  is  in  a  very  weak  state  of  health.  The  anxiety  of  my  mind  is  great  about  him.  A  word  from  you 
would  have  more  weight  than  all  the  arguments  that  he  could  make  use  of. 

Could  I  come  to  him,  this  favor  1  would  not  ask.  O,  S'  I  trust  in  your  goodness  that  you  will  do  what  you 
can  to  forward  M'  Swift  to  me  and  in  doing  so  you  will  greatly  oblige 

Your  distressed  friend, 
Should  be  glad  if  he  would  bring  out  two  ANN  SWIFT, 

trunks  which  there  is  clothing  in  that  I 
want  very  much  for  myself  and  children. 

The  appeal  seems  to  have  failed,  for  she  writes  under  date  Aug.  30,  1775  :  "De- 
parted this  life,  in  the  6ist  year  of  his  age,  my  dear  husband,  Samuel  Swift.  He 
died  in  Boston,  or  in  other  words,  murdered  there.  He  was  not  allowed  to  come  to 
see  me  and  live  with  his  wife  and  children  in  the  country.  There  he  gave  up  the 
ghost —  his  heart  was  broken ;  the  cruel  treatment  he  met  with  in  being  a  friend  to 
his  country  was  more  than  he  could  bear,  with  six  fatherless  children  (in  the  woods) 
and  all  my  substance  in  Boston."  Mrs.  Swift  was  a  woman  of  delicate  health,  but 
of  much  energy.  She  was  living,  Nov.  16,  1787,  in  her  own  house  in  Orange  Street, 
Boston,  when  she  deeded  a  small  portion  of  her  land  to  Ebenezer  Pope,  whose  estate 
it  joined. 

Mr.  Swift  was  graduated  at  Harvard  College  in  1735,  studied  law  with  Counsellor 
Gridley  and  became  a  barrister  and  fellow  practitioner  with  John  Adams,  afterwards 
president  of  the  United  States. 

Mr.  Swift  was  a  highly  esteemed  citizen  of  Boston,  and  was  frequently  invited  by 
the  selectmen  to  visit  the  schools  with  many  other  distinguished  citizens. 

He  was  one  of  those  fearless  and  determined  men  who  set  the  revolutionary  ball 
in  motion,  and  early  gave  up  his  life  to  the  cause  of  freedom. 

As  a  proof  of  his  prominence  and  the  esteem  in  which  he  was  held,  the  town 
records  of  Boston  attest.  At  a  town  meeting  of  the  freeholders  and  other  inhabi- 
tants of  the  town  of  Boston,  legally  warned,  at  Faneuil  Hall,  Monday,  April  3,  1775, 
—  an  adjournment  of  the  March  meeting  —  Mr.  Samuel  Adams,  moderator  of  the 
meeting,  being  at  the  Congress  then  sitting  at  Concord,  Samuel  Swift,  Esq.,  was 
chosen  moderator /w  tempore.  It  was,  indeed,  no  small  honor  to  preside  at  one  of 
the  famous  town  meetings  in  those  stirring  times,  and  to  take  the  place  of  such  a 
patriot  as  Sam  Adams. 

Mr.  Swift  was  a  member  of  the  Ancient  and  Honorable  Artillery  in  1746,  and  he 
is  said  by  his  friend.  Colonel  May,  to  have  been  one  of  those  active  in  promoting  the 
destruction  of  the  tea  in  Boston  Harbor. 

However  that  may  be,  he  is  known  to  have  been  an  active  and  influential  patriot. 
President  John  Adams  told  his  distinguished  grandson.  General  Swift,  while  on  a 
visit  to  his  seat  in  Quincy  in   181 7  with  President  Monroe,  that  Samuel  Swift  was  a 


22  GENEALOGY  OF  THE  FAMILY  OF 

good  man  and  a  generous  lawyer,  and  was  called  the  widows'  friend  ;  that  he  was  a 
firm  Whig  whose  memory  the  State  ought  to  perpetuate.  The  same  sentiments  Mr. 
Adams  expressed  in  a  letter  to  William  Wirt,  of  Virginia.  Mr.  Adams  also  said  it 
was  owing  to  the  zeal  and  resolution  of  Samuel  Swift  that  caused  many  Bostonians 
to  secrete  their  arms  when  Gov.  Gage  offered  the  town  freedom  if  arms  were  brought 
in  to  the  arsenal ;  and  that  Mr.  Swift  presided  at  a  freemason's  meeting  where  it  was 
covertly  agreed  to  use  the  arms  concealed,  and,  in  addition,  pitchforks  and  axes,  if 
need  be,  to  assail  the  soldiery  on  the  common ;  which  scheme  was  betrayed  to  Gage, 
causing  the  imprisonment  of  Swift  and  others.  This  imprisonment  brought  on  dis- 
ease from  which  he  never  recovered,  and  he  died  August  30,  1775,  aged  60  years,  as 
President  Adams  said,  "a  martyr  to  freedom's  cause."  His  remains  were  interred  in 
the  tomb  in  the  stone  chapel  ground  that  had  belonged  to  Samuel  Tylly,  Esq.,  the 
father  of  his  first  wife. 

He  had  acquired  a  competency  by  his  profession,  which,  excepting  a  house  in 
Boston  and  a  few  acres  of  land  in  Dorchester,  was  lost,  including  bonds,  through  the 
unfaithfulness  of  his  agent,  while  Boston  was  garrisoned. 

WILL. 

In  the  Name  of  God  Amen  I  .Samuel  Swift  of  Boston  in  the  county  of  Suffolk  in  New  England 
Esq'  being  sensible  of  what  I  am  about  make  this  my  last  Will  &  Testament  First  recommending  my  Soul  to  my 
merciful  God  hoping  in  his  mercy  and  in  the  next  place  commiting  my  Body  to  the  Earth  to  be  buried  by  my 
Executrix  hereafter  named  in  the  economical  manner  and  as  touching  the  small  worldly  estate  (though  enough) 
with  which  God  has  intrusted  me  after  my  just  debts  &  funeral  charges  are  paid  and  anything  remains;  I  give  & 
bequeath  it  as  follows,  viz'  To  ray  daughter  Sarah  Putnam  I  Give  the  sum  of  five  shillings  &  no  more  and  to  my 
daughter  Ann  Swift  I  give  her  the  Hke  sum  of  tive  shillings  and  no  more  they  and  each  of  them  having  had 
already  advanced  to  them  their  full  equal  part  >&  proportion  of  my  small  estate  To  my  daughter  Eliphal  I  give 
five  shillings;  to  my  daughter  Elizabeth  I  give  tive  shillings;  to  my  son  Foster  Swift  I  give  five  shillings;  to  my 
daughter  Mary  Swift  I  give  live  shiUings;  to  my  son  Jonathan  Swift  I  give  five  shillings  and  to  my  daughter 
Lucretia  Swift  I  give  five  shillings  to  be  paid  to  each  of  them  in  three  months  after  my  decease  Then  I  Give 
all  the  remainder  of  my  Estate  as  well  real  as  personal  to  my  well  beloved  wife  Ann  Swift  viz',  the  use  and  im- 
provement of  it  during  her  natural  life  and  with  leave  also  to  make  ample  Sale  &  disposal  of  all  or  any  part  of 
my  personal  Estate  first  used  and  then  if  need  be  of  my  real  Estate  for  the  support  of  herself  and  any  of  her  chil- 
dren (always  excepting  my  daughter  Sarah  I'utnam  and  Ann  Swift)  and  at  her  death  she  is  hereby  impowered 
by  Will  or  otherwise  to  dispose  of  it  to  my  children  (not  excepted  as  aforesaid)  as  she  please  or  if  she  thinks 
proper  to  advance  any  thing  to  any  one  of  them  excepting  as  aforesaid  she  shall  be  at  liberty  so  to  do  if  they 
behave  dutifully  to  her,  of  which  she  shall  be  the  sole  judge,  being  fully  satisfied  that  she  will  do  what  is  just  & 
equitable  but  if  my  said  wife  should  die  without  Willing  or  disposing  of  what  I  hereby  give  her  for  life  &  then  my 
Will  is  that  what  she  shall  or  may  leave  of  my  Estate  whether  real  or  personal,  or  both,  be  equally  divided  be- 
tween my  Children  viz  which  is  hereby  given  equally  to  them  their  heirs  and  assigns  forever  (excepting  to  .Sarah 
Putnam  and  Ann  Swift  as  aforesaid)  and  I  hereby  direct  and  order  that  no  Inventory  or  Apprizement  of  any 
part  of  my  Estate  be  had  :  In  Witness  whereof  I  have  hereunto  set  my  hand  and  Seal  this  twenty-third  day  of 
August,  Anno  Domini  One  Thousand  seven  hundred  &  seventy, 


SAMUEL  SWIFT. 


-j  SEAL  \ 


Sign'd  Seal'd  publish'd  pronounc'd  S: 
declared  by  the  s'd  Samuel  .Swift  the 
Test.ator    to    be    his     Will   &    Testam'.    in 

presence  of  us 

(first  interlined  in  one  place  near  the  bottoni) 

John  Peirce 

TllO.MAS    liAYl.KV  Juiier 

Joseph  Fiei,l)  Proved  June  24,  1776. 


THOMAS  SWIFT  OF  DORCHESTER.  23 

1 1 

l^affjanicl'  Stotft,  {Samuel,^  Tliomas'^  Thomas')  of  Milton,  yeoman  and  gentleman, 
b.  September  25,  1719;  d.  in  1767;  m.  (pub.  Jan.  9,  1741-2)  Rebecca  Tucker, 
who  d.  Sept.  6,  1793.  The  town  records  show  that  he  filled  the  offices  of  constable 
and  fence-viewer.  Adm.  on  his  estate  was  granted  to  Rebecca  Swift  and  Jeremiah 
Tucker,  who  presented  the  inventory  Feb.  12,  1768;  amt.  £^2^,  9s.,  6d.  Josiah 
How  appointed  guardian  of  the  children. 

CHILDREN. 

Rebecca,  b.  Dec.  30.  1742;  m.  James  Tucker  (pub.  Apr.  2,  1763). 

Sarah,  b.  May  25,  1745;   d.  17S1;   m.  Samuel  Henshaw  (pub.  May  30,  1777);   son  of  Sam'l  and 

Waitstill  Henshaw,  b.  at  Milton,  1744;   grad.  H.  C.  1773;   rem.  to  Northampton. 
Eliphal,  b.  Oct.  II,  1747;   m.  John  Baker,  Jr.,  of  Dorchester  (pub.  Aug.  15,  1777). 
Patience,  bapt.  Dec.  3,  1748;   d.  young. 

Patience,  b.  Nov.  14,  1749;   ra.  Sept.  iS,  1799,  Daniel  Newell,  of  Lynn. 
Mary,  b.  Dec.  20,  1751;   m.  Joseph  Bennett  (pub.  July  17,  1773). 
15.     ilfattjanirl,  b.  June  12,  1754. 

Abigail,  b.  ;   m.  Ruben  Ferry,  Sept.  13,  17S1. 

Jonathan,  b.  ;  m.  Silence  White,  who  d.  in  Boston,  July  16,  1817,  s.  p.     The 

adm.  of  her  estate  shows  she  was  sister  of  John  White,  Esq.,  of  Weymouth. 
Elizabeth,  b.  June  25,  1761 ;  m.  17S3,  Samuel  Babcock. 

12 

lEiKncjtr"  Sinift,  {Sainiielf  Thomas^-  Thomas'),  of  Milton,  gentleman,  born  March 
24,  1724-5  ;  d.  Jan.  17,  1805,  aged  80  yrs. ;  m.  Judith  [b.  Jan.  30,  1728-9;  d.  Apr. 
22,  1784,  aged  55  yrs.],  dau.  of  Dea.  Nehemiah  Clapp  [pub.  Jan.  17,  1746-7].  He 
served  the  town  as  surveyor  of  highways  in  1758, '64, '71, '78. 

CHILDREN. 

Ui.     Sotin,  b.  June  24,  1747. 
17.     Samuel,  b.  May  28,  1749. 
IS.    Ebruorr,  b.  Jan.  15,  1752. 

Lvdia,  b.  Feb.  14,  1754;   d.  July  10,  1758. 

Susannah,  b.  Dec.  31,  1756;   m.  Wm.  Bartlett  of  Boston  (pub.  Sept.  9,  17S0). 

Stephen,  b.  Apr.  i,  1761. 

Lydia,  b.  Mar.  7,  1763;   m.  Wm.  Pierce,  (pub.  Dec.  9,  1784). 

Ann,  b.  Aug.  6,  1764;   perhaps  the  same  who  was  called  Nancy;   m.  Samuel  Berry  of  Brookline 
(pub.  May  20,  1786). 

Judith,  b. ;  m.  Henry  Crane,  Jr.  (pub.  Mar,  20,  1784). 

13 

Sr.  Joatcr' Stoift,  {Samuel^  Samuel?  Thomas^  Thomas^)   b.  Jan.,   1760;   d.  Aug. 

18,  183s  ;   m.  Feb.  18,  1783,  Deborah   [b.  Sept. 1762  ;   d.  June  3,  1824],  dau. 

of   Capt.   Thomas   and   Elizabeth   Delano*   of  Nantucket.     She  was   buried   in  the 

♦Here  followeth  some  genealogical  notes  collected  and  made  at  Amsterdam  in  1852  by  Edward  Delano,  son 
of  Warren :  r-         j       j 

Arnulph  de  Franchemont,  proprietor  of  the  estate  of  this  name,  took  the  oath  of  fealty  to  Conrad  and  was 


24  GENEALOGY  OF  THE  FAMILY  OF 

Episcopal  Cemetery  of  St.  Ann's,  Brooklyn,  N.  Y.,  June  5,  1824.  Their  portraits, 
painted  by  Jarvis,  in  possession  of  their  grandson,  McRee  Swift,  Esq.,  are  repro- 
duced by  the  Albertype  process  for  this  work. 

CHILDREN. 

29.  3osr)3fj  ©arSncr,  b.  Dec.  31,  1783. 

Jonathan,  b. 1785;   d-  young. 

Sarah  Delano,  b.  Feb.  24,  17SS;  d.  May,  1839;  m.  December,  1810,  Eli,  son  of  James  and  Delia 
Adams,  of  Concord,  Mass.  He  d.  July  i8,  1822.  Besides  children  who  died  young,  they  had 
Col.  Julius  Walker  Adams,  b.  Oct.  18,  1812;  m.  Dec.  2,  1835,  Elizabeth  Dennison,  of  Stoning- 
ton.  Conn.  He  is  a  distinguished  civil  engineer,  particularly  devoted  to  sanitary  science.  He 
was  partially  educated  at  West  Point,  and  commanded  a  regiment  from  Brooklyn,  N.  Y.,  in  the 
war  of  the  Rebellion.  DeUa  Woodward  Adams,  b.  Nov.  19,  1815;  m.  Col.  Edward  B.  White, 
U.  S.  A.,  of  Charleston,  S.  C.  Mary,  b.  Nov.  21,  1818;  m.  James  P.  Kirkwood,  of  Edinburgh, 
Scotland. 

Deborah  Ann,  b. 1790;  d.  Dec. 1805.     "A  very  beautiful  woman." 

20.  SSailliam  l^tnrg,  b.  Nov.  6,  1800. 

Mary  Roberdeau,  b.  Aug.  8,  1S04;  d.  Dec. 1827;  m.  Jan.  23,  1821,  George  W.  Whistler, 

created  Count,  A.  D.  1 139.  He  married  the  daughter  of  the  Seigneur  Ivoy,  and  had  Conrad  the  Count  and  Gov- 
ernor of  Liege  and  Bouillon;  he  married  Ermingarde  Walcourt,  1766;  their  son  Hugh  married  the  heir  of 
Bavaria.  Hallin,  the  successor  to  Franchemont,  married  Agnes,  daughter  of  Guilbert  of  Ovras,  1225.  Walleron 
de  Franchemont  became  Seigneur  of  de  Launoy  in  1310,  between  Selle  and  Tournay;  their  son,  Hugh  de 
Launoy,  married  Margarethe  of  Migneul,  as  appears  on  the  tombstone.  Gilbert  de  Launoy  of  Wellnolle  and 
Beaumont,  married  Catherine  Molembix,  and  had  three  sons.  Baldwin  de  Launoy  Michelle,  Lady  of  Conray, 
and  their  descendant,  Philip  de  Launoy,  served  Charles  V,  12th  Sept.,  1543.  He  married  Margaret,  daughter  of 
Baldwin  of  Falaix,  and  died  May  25,  1560.  The  heir,  Philip,  died  about  1594.  The  arms  of  these  de  Launoys 
are  a  shield  argent  with  three  green  lions  and  three  red  tongues.  On  Dec.  7,  1603,  was  baptized  in  the 
Walloon  church  at  Leyden,  Philip,  the  son  of  John  and  Mary  de  Lonoye.  This  Philip  migrated  to  New  Ply- 
mouth in  November,  1621,  and  who,  it  is  believed,  was  the  same  Philip  who  came  to  New  Plymouth  in  the  For- 
tune in  i62r.  He  married  Dec.  19,  1634,  and  was  about  nineteen  years  of  age,  and  it  is  thought  is  undoubtedly 
the  same  Philip  de  Lonoye.  They  wrote  their  names  de  Lano,  de  la  Noy  and  de  Launuy.  One  of  them 
married  at  the  Walloon  church  James  de  Lano,  and  is  believed  to  be  the  brother  of  Philip,  born  1603,  and  hus- 
band of  Mary  of  Leyden,  whom  the  record  says  went  to  New  Spain  or  New  Plymouth  in  1621.  The  first  gen- 
eration of  the  de  Launoys,  or  de  Lano,  or  Noy  or  Noye,  known  in  America,  was  this  Philip,  who  came  to  New 
Plymouth  in  the  Fortune,  in  1621,  of  55  tons,  the  second  vessel  that  reached  the  colony,  and  she  was  placed  on 
the  same  footing  with  the  Mayflower  as  to  the  distribution  of  land.  He  married  Hester  Dewsbury  of  Duxbury; 
she  had  three  sons,  Samuel,  Thomas  and  Jonathan,  and  a  daughter.  Jonathan,  the  youngest  son  of  Philip,  was 
born  1648,  and  he  married  Mary  Warren,  daughter  of  Nathaniel  Warren  of  Plymouth,  on  Feb.  26,  1677-78. 
Their  children  were,  Jonathan,  married  Ann  Nash  June  20th,  1704;  Jabez,  married  his  cousin,  Mary  Delano, 
1710;  Sarah;  Mary;  Nathan;  Bethia;  Nathaniel,  married  a  Durfee,  1720;  Esther;  Jethro,  married  Elizabeth 
Pope  Oct.  9,  1727;   and  Thomas,  who  married  Jane  Peckham,  April,  1729. 

The  aforesaid  Jonathan  was  lieutenant  of  the  colony,  military  constable,  and  surveyor,  as  his  father,  Philip, 
had  been  also.  His  farm  was  called  Nonasketucket,  in  Dartmouth,  now  Fair  Haven,  and  he  died  Dec.  28,  1720, 
and  was  buried  at  where  the  headstone  was  in  1S50. 

Thomas  Delano,  who  married  Jean  Peckh.im  in  April,  1729,  had  children,  Abishai,  born  July  9,  1731; 
Thomas,  born  in  1732  and  died  in  November,  1799,  married  to  Elizabeth  Swain  of  Nantucket;  Ephraim,  born 
Aug.  14,  1733,  married  to  Elizabeth  Cushman  Nov.  27th,  1760;  Gideon,  born  Sept.  25,  1736,  married  Patience 
Tabor;  Deborah,  born  June  14,  1739,  married  . Sherman;  Jean,  married  Pierre  Tobey.  J.  G.  Swift  re- 
members great-uncle  Abishai,  who  settled  in  Hampshire  County,  Mass.,  and  also  great-uncle  Gideon,  on  board 
his  very  neat  sloop  that  coa.stcd  between  Boston  and  Carolina.  The  aforesaid  Thomas'  wife  was  born  in  1729, 
and  was  the  granddaughter  of  Peter  Folger,  and  daughter  of  Shul)art  Swain  of  Nantucket.  The  aforesaid 
Ephraim,  of  whom  I  have  heard  my  mother  speak  as  of  one  she  respected  highly,  married  Elizabeth  Cushman. 
Their  children  were,  Thomas,  born  Oct.  16,  1761,  died  February,  1782;  Deborah,  born  July  16,  1773,  died  Feb. 
9,  1851;  Warren,  born  Oct.  28,  1779,  married  Deborah  Church  Nov.  6,  180S.  Their  children,  Warren,  married 
Catherine  Lyman;  Franklin  if.  married  Laura  Acton;  and  Edward  Delano,  this  last  the  collector  of  this 
memoir,  except  in  reference  to  my  grandfather,  Thomas  Delano.  The  sons  of  the  saiil  Thomas  were  Ephraim, 
Henry,  Thomas,  Abishai  and  William,  and  daughters,  Elizabeth  Howland,  Deborah  Swift,  my  mother,  and  Sally 
Fitch.     My  grandfather  educated  his  first  four  sons  in  England. 


Foster  Swift,  M.  D. 


THOMAS  SWIFT  OF  DORCHESTER.  25 

U.  S.  A.,  son  of  Col.Wm.Whistler,  U.  S.  A.,  b.  in  Indiana,  cadet  at  the  U.  S.  Military  Academy  from 
July  31,  1S14,  to  July  I,  1S19,  when  he  was  graduated  and  promoted  to  2d  lieutenant  corp  of 
artillery,  July  I,  1819;  1st  Ueutenant  2d  Artillery,  Aug.  16,  1829;  resigned,  Dec.  31,  1833; 
civil  engineer  in  U.  S.  from  1S42-49;  superintending  engineer  of  the  St.  Petersburgh  &  Moscow 
R.  R.,  Russia,  in  the  employ  of  the  emperor;   died  Apr.  7,  1849,  aged  48  yrs.;  children :   i,  Geo. 

W.  Whistler,  b. ;   m. dau.  of  Prof.  Ducatel  of  Baltimore,  by  whom  he  had 

Geo.  W.,  now  living  in  Baltimore.  His  second  wife,  m.  in  1854,  was  Julia,  dau.  of  Ross  W. 
Winans,  of  Baltimore;  2,  Joseph  Swift  Whistler,  d.  young;  3,  Deborah  Delano  Whistler,  m. 
Seymour  Hayden  in  England,  the  distinguished  surgeon  and  artist  of  London,  whose  etchings 
have  obtained  such  celebrity. 

Dr.  Swift  was,  at  his  father's  death,  preparing  for  college,  but  that  affliction 
made  other  pursuits  necessary.  He  commenced  the  study  of  medicine  with  Dr. 
Joseph  Gardner  in  1779,  and  about  1780  was  appointed  surgeon  on  board  the  Ports- 
mouth, sloop-of-war,  Capt.  Daniel  McNeill,  and  with  a  squadron  destined  for  Hol- 
land, met  a  British  fleet — Rodney's — and  was  captured  by  the  Culloden,  seventy-four, 
commanded  by  Lord  Robert  Manners,  and  sent  to  St.  Lucie,  where  he  was  kept  a  pris- 
oner thirteen  months,  escaping,  with  twelve  others,  in  1781.  This  escape  was  a  re- 
markable event.  Dr.  Swift,  who  had  prescribed  successfully  for  the  illness  of  the 
commander  of  the  prison-ship,  was  allowed  to  visit  the  sick  of  the  island,  and  was 
amply  compensated  by  them— a  guinea  a  visit.  These  fees  gave  him  and  his  fellow- 
sufferers  many  comforts,  but  still  they  were  prisoners.  Twelve  of  them,  officers  and 
men,  with  Capt.  McNeill  at  the  head,  had  long  been  devising  a  plan  of  escape. 
They  practiced  swimming,  and  then  waited  for  some  trader  to  anchor  near  by.  At 
last  a  brig  partly  laden  with  sugar  lay  at  anchor.  Now  was  their  chance,  which  they 
hastened  to  improve.  Selecting  a  night  light  enough  to  see  the  brig,  the  twelve  low- 
ered themselves  quietly  from  a  port  into  the  water,  and  swam  with  a  light  bundle  of 
clothes  tied  to  their  backs,  to  the  cable  of  the  vessel.  One  of  their  comrades  on 
reaching  the  cable  shinned  up,  and  raising  his  body  over  the  side  bow,  his  indistinct 
form  at  that  hour  of  the  night  struck  the  watch  with  terror,  and  they  ran  below. 
The  others,  following  their  leader,  hastened  to  fasten  the  companion  and  hatches,  cut 
the  cable,  and  put  to  sea.  In  eleven  days  they  reached  Cape  Cod  with  their  pris- 
oners, only  eight,  the  remainder  being  on  shore  in  St.  Lucie  at  the  time  of  the  cap- 
ture. The  sale  of  the  brig,  a  Hull  trader,  partly  laden  with  sugar  and  rum,  gave 
each  of  the  twelve  some  hundreds  of  dollars,  and  much  eclat,  at  the  time  "  that  truly 
tried  men's  souls." 

Of  this  imprisonment  his  mother  writes  as  follows : 

My  Dear  SUter:-  Boston,  Sept.  20,  ,781. 

I  have  heard  from  my  son  Foster,  but  oh,  how  can  I  tell,  or  how  can  you  hear?  He 
IS  oil  board  a  guard-ship  at  a  place  where  they  will  not  exchange  prisoners,  and  he  has  written  letters  to  Dr. 
Gardner  and  Deacon  Davis,  enough  to  break,  or  move  a  stone  to  speak,  begging  that  some  one  would  stir  in  the 
affair,  and  try  to  get  the  Americans  released.  Their  number  on  board  is  two  hundred  and  twenty,  put  down  the 
iold  at  sunset — how  can  they  live? 


26  GENEALOGY  OF  THE  FAMILY  OF 

1  have  copied  his  letter  to  me  and  send  you.  I  fear  nothing  can  be  done,  as  I  have  not  the  least  encourage- 
ment from  either,  and  there  he  must  he  and  sicken  and  die.     My  heart  is  too  full.     Farewell. 

Your  sister,  ANN  SWIFT. 

Your  brother  Foster  tells  me  that  your  cousin  Hearsay  has  seen  the  wharfs,  and  is  quite  of  the  notion  of 
taking  them,  and  Cunningham  is  going  to  quit  them,  and  he  would  have  you  send  him  word  if  there  is  anything 
further  you  would  have  him  do. 

In  November  of  1782  Dr.  Swift  thought  of  settling  professionally  on  the  island 
of  Nantucket,  by  the  advice  of  Dr.  Gardner,  who  gave  him  letters  of  introduction  ; 
but  not  finding  that  place  equal  to  his  hopes,  he  went  the  next  year  to  Virginia,  by 
invitation  of  his  only  brother,  Jonathan,  where  he  received  the  friendly  aid  of  Gen. 
Washington,  to  whom  he  had  carried  a  package  and  introduction  from  Gen.  Benjamin 
Lincoln,  and  succeeded,  but  lost  his  health  and  returned  to  Nantucket.  In  1786  he 
removed  with  his  wife  and  son  to  Dartmouth,  Mass.,  where  he  remained  till  July, 
1792  ;  then  took  up  his  residence  and  the  practice  of  his  profession  in  Taunton.  In 
1809  he  removed  to  Boston,  and  Feb.  18,  18 14,  was  appointed  garrison  surgeon. 
He  was  post  surgeon  April  24,  1816,  assistant  surgeon  May,  1821,  and  died  at  his 
post,  New  London,  Conn. 

WILL. 

Knowing  the  certainty  of  death  I,  Foster  Swift,  do  make  this  my  last  Will  and  Testament.  In  doing  it  I 
desire  humbly  to  recommend  my  Soul  to  God,  hoping  for  pardon  and  salvation  through  the  mediation  of  a 
crucified  Redeemer.  It  is  my  wish  to  be  buried  in  a  plain  pine  coffin,  simply  stained,  without  any  ornament,  to 
have  plain  Gravestones  with  my  name  and  profession,  place  of  nativity  and  age,  and  time  of  death  and  no 
more. 

After  all  my  debts  are  paid  I  dispose  of  my  estate  as  follows,  viz :  One-half  of  my  estate,  real  and  per- 
sonal, (excepting  what  is  mentioned  below,)  I  give  to  my  daughter  .Sally  D.  Adams.  All  the  residue  of  my  estate, 
real  and  personal,  I  give  to  my  sons  Joseph,  William,  and  my  grandchildren  George,  Joseph  and  Deborah 
Whistler,  in  equal  parts,  that  is,  George,  Joseph  and  Deborah  Whistler  to  have  one-third  of  one-half.  If  there 
should  be  any  dividend  from  any  source  I  give  the  same  to  my  sons  Joseph  and  William.  The  Watch  which  I 
have  worn  belongs  to  my  son  Joseph.  To  him  I  give  my  Silver  Tankard,  and  the  table  spoons  marked  1).  D.  to 
Louisa  Adams.  To  my  sisters  Mary  and  Philomela  I  give  Ten  Dollars  each,  my  Gold  Seal  and  Watch  Chain  I 
give  to  Julius  W.  Adams.     To  my  early  friend  Lyman  Law,  Esq.,  I  give  my  Gold  Ring. 

I  hereby  appoint  my  sons  Joseph  and  William  executors,  and  my  daughter  Sally  executrix  of  this  will. 

In  testimony  of  which  I  have  hereunto  set  my  hand  and  seal  this  thirteenth  day  of  February,  A.  D.  1834. 


FOSTER  SWIFT. 


<  SEAL  \ 


Signed,  sealed,  and  declared  by  the  Testator  "j 
as  his  last  Will  and  Testament,  in  the  |- 
presence  of  us:  ) 

JOHATHAN   COIT, 

JosEi'H  Smith,  Jr., 

E.  F.  DUTTON. 


FOSTER  SWIFT,  M.  D., 
Surgeon  in  the 

U.  S.  Army, 

Born   in   Boston 

20th  Jany,  1760, 

Died  in  New/  London 

18  Aug.,  1835. 


Mrs.  Foster  Swift. 


THOMAS  SWIFT  OF  DORCHESTER.  27 

H 

Jonatj^an*  Stoift,  {Foster,'^  Samuel,^  Thomas,^  Thomas'),  b.  in  Boston,  March  22, 
1764;  d.  Aug.  22,  1824;  m.  Sept.  24,  1785,  Ann  (b.  Dec.  3,  1767;  d.  Jan.  16, 
1833),  dau.  of  Gen.  Daniel  Roberdeau  of  the  Revolutionary  War  and  the  Congress 
of  1778.      (See  Roberdeau  Genealogy). 

Mrs.  Swift  was  present  at  the  inauguration  ball  in  honor  of  Gen.  Washington, 
and  during  the  evening  was  led  out  to  dance  by  him.  A  life-like  miniature  of  her 
on  ivory  at  the  age  of  twenty-two  is  in  possession  of  her  daughter,  Mrs.  Patten,  who 
has  also  an  oil  painting  at  the  age  of  si.xty. 

CHILDREN. 

A  son  still  born  Oct.  10,  1 786. 

William  Roberdeau,  b.  Aug.  29,  17S7;  d.  Oct.,  1833;  m.  Aug.  i,  1815,  Mary  Donaldson  (d. 
Apr.  30,  1S70,  aged  S3),  dau.  of  Edward  Harper,  of  Alexandria;  early  was  in  the  counting- 
room  of  Wm.  Taylor,  and  made  voyages  for  this  house  as  supercargo  with  great  success;  was 
afterwards  established  as  a  merchant  in  Baltimore  with  Eli  Adams;  finally  moved  to  Washing- 
ton, N.  C,  where  he  died,  s.  p.  Oct.  1833. 

A  son,  b.  Nov.  12,  1789;  d.  Nov.  13,  1789. 

Daniel  Roberdeau,  b.  Nov.  9,  1790;  •  d.  unm.  Aug.,  1825. 

Jonathan,  b.  Dec.  2,  1792;  d.  July  i,  1793. 

Isaac  Bostwick,  b.  Feb.  2,  1795. 

Ann  Selina,  b.  Feb.  18,  1797;  d.  July  18,  1798. 

Geo.  Washington,  b.  Feb.  11,  1800;  d.  unm.  Sept.  19,  1819. 

Ann  Foster,  b.  Oct.  11,  1802;  m.  Jan.  13,  1S29,  Jonathan  T.  Patten,  a  prosperous  wholesale  mer- 
chant of  New  York,  where  they  still  reside.     For  their  children,  see  Roberdeau  Genealogy. 

Mary  Selina,  b.  Jan.  iS,  1S05;  m.  Aug.  8,  1S26,  Henry  Allison,  b.  in  Va.  Dec.  23,  1793;  d.  Dec. 
26,  1871;  settled  in  Missouri,  where,  at  Brownsville,  Mrs.  A.  lives.  For  children,  see  Rober- 
deau Genealogy. 

Wm.  Taylor, b.  Sept.  20,  rSo8;   d.  next  day. 

Foster,  b.  May  20,  1810;  d.  unm.  .Sept.,  1825. 

Mr.  Swift  was  for  forty  years  a  prominent  citizen  of  Alexandria,  Va.  He  was 
bred  to  mercantile  life  by  Mr.  May  of  Boston,  and  early  (before  1785),  established 
himself  in  commerce  at  Alexandria,  where  he  met  with  success,  accumulating  a 
fortune.  His  fine  place  bore  the  unique  name  of  Grasshopper  Hall,  since  known  as 
Kolros,  where  he  frequently  entertained  Gen.  Washington,  with  whom  he  was  on 
intimate  terms.  He  had  a  fine  portrait  of  him  painted  by  Peale,  now  in  possession 
of  Jonathan  Patten,  Esq.,  of  New  York. 

Mr.  Swift  was  a  Mason,  and  received  his  degree  in  the  Washington  Lodge, 
Alexandria;  initiated  and  passed  Feb.  25,  1785,  and  raised  to  a  Master  Mason  Feb. 
24,  1786. 

As  a  brother  Mason  Mr.  Swift  attended  the  funeral  of  Gen.  Washington,  and  was 
the  one  who  sprinkled  the  earth  over  the  body  during  the  services.  He  was  also 
buried  with  Masonic  honors  by  the  lodge.  A  gentleman  of  dignified  and  elegant 
manners,  tall,  of  commanding  aspect ;    his  eyes  were  blue,  and  his  complexion  dark. 


28  GENEALOGY  OF  THE  FAMILY  OF 

He  was  an  intelligent  traveler,  visiting  England  and  Ireland  in  1786-7,  when  he 
improved  the  opportunity  of  a  visit  to  Rotherham,  in  Yorkshire,  the  home  of  his 
ancestors.  Here  and  elsewhere  in  the  county  he  found  the  name  respectably 
represented ;  some  having  the  tradition  that  a  branch  of  the  family  had  migrated  to 
Boston  in  the  previous  century.  On  visiting  Dublin  some  members  of  St.  Patrick's 
Society  thought  they  traced  a  resemblance  between  him  and  the  Dean,  and  with  the 
characteristic  poetry  of  Irish  feeling,  they  gave  him  a  dinner  and  presented  him  with 
a  portrait  of  the  Dean,  with  the  arms  of  the  Yorkshire  family.  His  valuable  papers, 
among  which  were  many  letters  from  Gen.  Washington,  were  all  lost  at  sea  soon  after 
the  death  of  his  son,  while  being  sent  to  New  York.  His  portrait,  which  was  painted 
abroad,  was  so  injured  on  the  voyage  home  that  he  destroyed  it. 


15 

i^atl^anitl,'  {Nathaniel*  Samuel^  Tkomasf  Thomas',)  of  Dorchester,  b.  in  Milton, 
June  12,  1754;   d.  Nov.  16,  1831  ;   m.  Sept.  25,  1777,  Mary  Baker,  b.  Feb.  7,  1754. 

CHILDREN. 

21.  fiatbanicl,  b.  July  15,  1778. 

22.  EJailliam,  b.  Sept.  11,  1779. 

Mary,  b.  Mar.  18,  17S1;  d.  unm.  in  1877. 
Sarah,  b.  Dec.  23,  17S2;  d.  unm.  in  1S77. 

23.  Samuel,  b.  Dec.  2,  1784. 

The  daughters,  Mary  and  Sarah,  were  charming  ladies  of  great  intelligence, 
residing  till  their  death  in  Dorchester.  The  family  tomb  is  situated  in  the  old 
Dorchester  graveyard. 


16 

3Df)n=' SiDift,  lEsq.  {Ebenczer*  Samuel,^  Thomas^  Thomas,')  b.  in  Milton  on  the 
ancestral  farm,  June  24,  1747;  d.  Jan.  14,  1819;  m.  May  17,  1772,  Elizabeth  (born 
Jan.  14,  1754;  d.  Dec.  13,  1825),  dau.  of  William  and  Hannah  (Blake)  Babcock 
of  Milton. 

CHILDREN. 

Bktsf.y,  b.  Apr.  27,  1773;  d.  1774. 
24.   3ot)n,  b.  Mar.  12,  1775. 

Wii.i.iAM,  b.  June  13,  1777;  merchant  of  Milton;  adm.  to  John  Swift,  Esq.,  Feb.  7,  1808,  d.  s.p. 

Elizabeth,  b.  Jan.  4,  1779;  d.  June  10,  1805;  m.  Capt.  P.  15.  Rogers;  children:  i,  Charles;  2, 
Elizabeth;  3,  Judith,  m.  E.  P.  Porter  of  lioston,  d.  s.  p.;  4,  John  Swift,  m.  and  left  four  child- 
ren; 5,  George  1!.,  d.  leaving  a  widow  and  three  children;  6,  Fanny,  m.  J.  A.  Veazie  of  Boston, 
has  three  children;    7,  Pcnuel,  dead. 


THOMAS  SWIFT  OF  DORCHESTER. 


29 


Fanny,  b.  Dec.  30,  1780;  d.  unm.  Mar.  2,  1868.  A  lady  much  beloved.  She  owned  the  ancient 
coat  of  arms  before  mentioned,  which  she  gave  in  i860  to  Gen.  Swift,  now  in  possession  of 
his  son,  McRee. 

Charles,  b.  May  2,  1783;  d.  single. 

Edward,  b.  Aug.  15,  1788;  d.  single. 

Capt.  John  Swift,  as  he  is  frequently  called  on  the  Milton  record,  was  one  of  the 
leading  men  of  the  town.  He  built  the  house  now  standing  on  Adams  Street  near 
Canton  Avenue,  Milton  Hill,  from  which  the  following  picture  was  made,  about  one 
hundred  years  ago,  on  land  his  wife  inherited  from  her  ancestors. 


In  business  he  was  a  successful  manufacturer  of  gentlemen's  and  ladies'  beaver 
hats,  in  which  he  rivalled  those  imported  from  the  mother  country. 

The  Milton  records  during  the  Revolutionary  period  of  its  history,  show  that  he 
was  an  active  and  ardent  patriot,  filling  the  most  important  offices  with  signal  ability. 
Before  the  memorable  year  of  i  ']^6,  when  he  was  chosen  as  one  of  the  committee  of 
safety  and  correspondence,  he  had  filled  numerous  minor  offices,  as  clerk  of  the 
market,  surveyor,  and  so  forth;  and  in  1781  he  was  appointed  with  his  brother 
Samuel  to  raise  men  for  the  Continental  army,  and  was  also  chosen  to  examine  the 
treasurer's  accounts  and  to  regulate  the  schools.  No  committee  during  these 
exciting  times  seemed  complete  unless  his  name  was  attached  to  it,  and  all  we  can 
learn  of  him  stamps  him  as  a  determined  and  resolute  man,  greatly  respected  by  his 


30  GENEALOGY  OF  THE  FAMILY  OF 

townsmen.     In  i8 17  he  was  a  second  lieutenant  in  a  company  which  went  to  assist  in 
quelling  Shay's  rebellion. 

The  following  incident,  giving  us  some  insight  into  his  character,  was  given  by 
the  Rev.  Frederick  Frothingham,  in  his  two  hundredth  anniversary  discourse :  "  June 
■  19,  1796,  the  church  of  Milton  called  the  Rev.  John  Pierce,  afterwards  the  famous 
Dr.  Pierce,  of  Brookline,  but  the  town  would  not  concur.  Dr.  Pierce  used  to  say  in 
his  jovial  fashion  that  Mr.  John  Swift  was  the  cause  of  his  not  coming  to  Milton. 
Being  a  man  of  influence,  he  made  such  a  fuss  in  the  town  that  the  town  refused  to 
ratify  the  vote  of  the  church  in  favor  of  inviting  Mr.  Pierce.  And  the  weighty 
ground  of  Mr.  Swift's  opposition  was,  that  he  did  not  like  Mr.  Pierce's  step-mother." 

A  note  to  a  sermon  by  John  H.  Morrison,  D.  D.,  of  Milton,  says :  "  About  sixty 
years  ago,  I  have  been  told  that  at  a  town  meeting  in  Milton,  no  public  measure 
could  be  carried  which  was  opposed  by  John  Swift,  the  energetic  head  of  an  impor- 
tant family  which  is  now  represented  by  only  one  male  member." 

Squire  Swift  was  a  politician  of  the  old  Jeffersonian  school,  and  made  his  influence 
felt  both  in  his  town  and  county.  He  is  said  to  have  been  tendered  the  nomination 
for  Congress,  but  declined.  In  writing  his  political  squibs,  as  he  called  them,  he 
signed  himself  "  The  Man  of  Fur." 

Mr.  E.  J.  Baker  of  Dorchester  writes:  "His  was  no  negative  character.  He 
loved  his  friends  and  hated  his  enemies,  while  he  rendered  to  Ca;sar  the  things  that 
are  Ca;sar's,  and  to  God  the  things  that  are  God's.  In  the  days  of  my  boyhood  I 
met  him  frequently,  when  he  was  at  the  age  of  threescore  years  and  ten,  and  my 
remembrance  of  him  is  that  he  was  tall  and  portly,  dignified  in  his  person  and  in  his 
gait,  and  elastic  in  his  step.  His  hair  was  very  white,  with  the  queue  of  the  former 
generation.  He  was  always  social  and  pleasant  in  his  conversation,  and  a  constant 
attendant  at  church.  His  hospitality  was  bounteous,  and  shared  alike  by  his  neigh- 
bors and  transient  visitors." 

Administration  on  his  estate  was  granted  to  his  son  John,  February  2,  18 19. 
The  inventory,  amounting  to  three  thousand,  seven  hundred  and  forty-six  dollars  and 
four  cents,  showed  tvvo  pews  in  the  Milton  meeting  house,  and  about  one  hundred 
books  in  the  library.  His  family  tomb  is  near  by  the  graves  of  his  ancestors  in  the 
Milton  cemetery. 


17 


Samuel'  Stoift,  {Ebenezer' Samuci,'  Thomas'^  Thomas'),  b.  at  the  paternal  mansion, 
Milton  Hill,  May  28,  1749;  d.  February  i,  1830,  aged  81;  m.  (pub.  October  4, 
1782),  Abigail  (b.  May  15,  1759;  d.  August  16,  1834,  aged  76),  dau.  of  William 
and  Eunice  (Bent)  Pierce. 


THOMAS  SWIFT  OF  DORCHESTER.  3 1 

CHILDREN. 

25.  Samuel,  b.  Sept.  22,  1783. 

Judith,  b.  July  17,  1785;   d.  unm.  Oct.  23,  1857. 

Lewis,  b.  Aug.  5,  1787;   d.  young. 

Andrew,  b.  Aug.  20,  1789;  d.  unm.  Feb.  19,  1851. 

William,  b.  July  27,  1791 ;  d.  s.  p.  June  8,  1865. 

Ebenezer,  b.  June  19,  1793;   d.  June  16,  1827. 

Abigail,  b.  Dec.  25,  1795;  d.  unm.  July  22,  1838. 

Eunice,  b.  June  6,  1798;  m.  Nov.  20,  1823,  Josiah  Wadsworth. 

George,  b.  Nov.  29,  1800;  d.  unm. 

Tho.mas  Oliver,  b.  Apr.  12,  1803;  d.  unm.  June  6,  1837. 

Mr.  Swift,  like  his  brother  John,  was  an  ardent  patriot  of  the  Revolution,  and  we 
find  his  name  on  many  of  the  important  committees  of  those  stirring  times.  In  1781 
he  was  on  the  committee  of  safety  and  correspondence,  also  to  raise  men  for  the 
Continental  army.  Besides  various  other  committees  to  which  his  name  was 
attached,  he  was  surveyor  of  the  highways,  constable,  and  overseer  of  the  poor. 
Mr.  Swift  by  occupation  was  a  farmer,  tilling  the  acres  that  had  been  cultivated  by 
his  ancestors.  By  his  will,  dated  Sept.  24,  1827,  he  disposed  of  an  estate  of  nearly 
six  thousand  dollars  among  his  children,  who,  Aug.  25,  1835,  sold  the  property  to 
Mr.  Thomas  Hollis,  of  Milton.  Singular  to  say,  the  estate  has  got  back  again  into 
Swift  blood,  having  been  bought  by  Lewis  W.  Tappan,  Jr.,  a  descendant  of 
Obadiah,  son  of  the  first  Thomas.  Mr.  Tappan  has  remodeled  the  old  mansion  and 
occupies  it  as  a  residence.  Mr.  Swift  was  the  owner  of  the  Swift  chair,  pre- 
viously mentioned. 

18 

lEbentjcr'  Sinift,  (Ebenezer*  Samuel,^  Thomas^  Thomas,^)  born  in  Milton  Jan.  15, 

1752;   d.  in  Framingham  Sept.  3,  1775,  ae.  23,  (g.  s.)  ;   m. ,  1775,  Martha 

Rice  of  Natick.     Had  one  son,  Ebenezer*,  b. ,  d. ;  m. 

Sept.  7,  1800,  Sally  Greenwood,  by  whom  he  had  the  following  children: 


CHILDREN. 


Martha,  b.  Nov.  3,  1800. 
Mary,  b.  May  1,  1S03. 
George,  b.  May  20,  1805. 
Hiram,  b.  Feb.  5,  1814. 


19* 


General  3a?,t^\f   Partner    Sfaift,    ILIL.  ©.,    (Foster,"    Samuel*    Samuel^    Thomas'^ 
Thomas')  b.  at   Nantucket   Dec.  31,   1783;   d.  July  23,   1865;    m.  June    6,   1805, 

*By  a  typographical  error  the  number  to  which  this  refers  is  29  instead  of  19,  as  it  should  be. 


32  GENEALOGY  OF  THE  FAMILY  OF 

Louisa    Margaret    (b.    Oct.    14,   1788;    d.  Nov.    15,   1855,)    dau.    of  Capt.   James 
Walker,*  a  rice  planter  of  Wilmington,  N.  C. 

CHILDREN. 
James  Foster,  b.  May  15,  1806;  d.  March  18,  1830;  m.  Jan.  2,  1830,  Mary  F.  Jephson  of  New 
York.     Partially  educated  at  West  Point;   U.  S.  assistant  engineer  when  he  died. 

26.  3onatI)an  ajailliamss,  b.  March  30,  1808. 

Alexander  Joseph,  b.  March  4,  i8io;  Cadet  at  the  U.  S.  Military  Academy  from  July  i,  1826,  to 
July  I,  1830,  when  he  was  graduated  and  promoted  in  the  army  to  Bvt.  Second  Lieut.  Corps 
of  Engineers,  July  I,  1830.  Served:  as  Asst.  Engineer  in  the  construction  of  Ft.  Caswell,  N. 
C,  and  improvement  of  Cape  Fear  River,  N.  C,  1830-32,  and  in  the  erection  of  Ft.  Adams, 
Newport  Harbor,  R.  L,  1832-35;  as  Superintending  Engineer  of  the  opening  of  Ocracock 
Inlet,  N.  C,  1835-39;  of  the  improvement  of  Cape  Fear  River  of  Pamlico  Sound,  N.  C, 
(First  Lieut.  Corps  of  Engineers  Oct.  31,  1836,)  1S36-39;  of  the  construction  of  Ft.  Caswell, 
N.  C,  1836-39,  and  of  improvement  of  Cose  Sound  and  of  New  River,  N.  C,  1838-39;  on 
professional  duty  in  Europe  at  the  School  of  Application  (Capt.  Corps  of  Engineers  July  7, 
1838,)  for  the  Artillery  and  Engineers  at  Metz,  France,  1840-41 ;  at  the  Military  Academy  as 
Instructor  of  practical  military  engineering  June  30,  1841,  to  Sept.  12,  1846;  Treasurer  Dec. 
19,  1845, '°  Sept.  12,  1846;  Superintending  Engineer  of  the  construction  of  cadets'  barracks 
1844-46;  and  in  the  war  with  Mexico  1856-7,  in  command  of  Sappers  and  Miners  and 
Pontoniers,  being  engaged  in  the  siege  of  Vera  Cruz  March  9-18,  1S47.  Died  April  24,  1847, 
at  New  Orleans. 

Thomas  Delano,  b.  March  23,  1S12;  d.  Sept  2,  1829. 

Julius  Henry,  b.  Sept.  i,  1814;  d.  Feb.  6,  1S50. 

Sarah  Delano,  b.  March  30,  1816;  d.  March  22,  1876;  m.  Oct.  18,  1861,  Peter  Richards  of 
New  York. 

27.  fHclart,  b.  April  15,  1819. 

Louisa  Josephine,  b.  April  30,  1821;  d.  Jan.  16,  1859;  m.  June  22,  1843,  Peter  Richards  of 
New  York. 

Harriet  Walker,  b.  Feb.  3,  1S24;  d.  Dec.  7,  1S26. 

Charlotte  Farquhar,  b.  April  5,  1826;  d.  Dec.  31,  1840. 

James  Thomas,  b.  Aug.  30,  1829;  m.  Nov.  14,  1861,  Margaret  Weston,  only  dau.  of  Judge 
Weston  of  Sandy  Hill,  N.  Y.  Is  a  successful  merchant  of  New  York,  and  member  of  the 
Chamber  of  Commerce.  He  has  made  admirable  use  of  his  surplus  income  in  charities,  par- 
ticularly in  founding  the  Home  for  Old  People  of  Geneva,  N.  Y.,  in  memory  of  his  brother 
Foster. 

28.  JFoBttr,  b.  Oct.  31,  1833. 

'Robert  Walker,  a  kinsman  probably  of  the  Rev.  George  Walker,  the  hero  of  Londonderry  and  resident  of 
Portaferry,  Ireland,  m.  Ann  .Shearer,  a  dau.  of  the  family  of  Montgomery  of  Mt.  Alexander,  and  migrated  in 
1738  with  many  of  his  retainers,  among  them  the  Owens  and  Kenons,  to  Wilmington,  N.  C,  where  were  born, 
Ann,  (Quince)  1740;  James,  1742;  d.  Feb.  1808,  re.  66  yrs. ;  m.  Jan.  1770,  Magdalene  Margaret  Dubois,  who 
d.  Dec.  1827,  a-.  72;  and  had  James  W.,  b.  Dec.  25,  1770,  who,  with  his  family  and  son  Henry  migrated 
to  Ashtourne,  thence  to  southwest  part  of  Arkansas;  Harriet,  b.  Dec.  10,  1784;  Louisa  Margaret,  b.  Oct.  14, 
1788;   m.  J.  G.  Swift.     Julius  Henry,  b.  Oct.  26,  1793;   d.  1827  in  Pendleton,  S.  C. 

Dominc  Petrus  Dubois  of  Amsterdam,  of  a  refugee  Huguenot  family  from  Rochelle  in  France,  about  the 
time  of  the  massacre  of  St.  Bartholomew,  was  the  father  of  the  Rev.  Walter  Dubois,  pastor  of  the  Reformed 
Dutch  Church  in  (Jarden  Street,  New  York,  who  married  Helena  Van  Baal.  He  d.  Oct.  175  i,  :i'.  80.  Of  their 
children,  John,  b.  1707,  by  his  second  wife  Gabriella  De  Kosset  of  Wilmington,  N.  C,  had  Magdalene  Margaret, 
b.  Feb.  19,  1765,  wife  of  James  Walker. 

1  have  a  copper  plate  portraiture  of  Dom.  Petrus  Dubois  of  Amsterdam  in  my  library,  and  I  have  placed  in 
the  consistory  of  the  early  Dutch  Church  of  New  York,  whose  pastor  is  the  Rev.  Mr.  De  Witt,  a  full-sized  and 
excellent  work  of  art  in  oil  portrait  of  Ihe  aforesaid  Dom.  (jualthemus  Dubois. 

The  De  Rossets  were  a  Huguenot  family  of  long  existence  in  F'rance.  Two  sons,  Louis  and  John,  emi- 
grated to  Wilmington,  N.  C.  Louis  was  of  llie  King's  Council,  and  with  his  brother,  and  William  Montgomery 
Walker,  brother  of  James  Walker,  were  the  founders  of  St.  James  Episcopal  Church  in  Wilmington.  —  From  J. 
G.  Swift's  Notts. 


THOMAS  SWIFT  OF  DORCHESTER.  33 

A  Memoir  of  General  Swift  having  been  already  published,  it  is  unnecessary 
here  to  give  more  than  a  brief  reference  to  his  character. 

From  his  ancestors,  who  were  of  the  best  Puritan  type,  he  inherited  a  rare  combi- 
nation of  qualities,  that  formed  a  noble  manhood.  He  was  not  only  a  brave  soldier, 
but  a  man  whose  character  and  influence  would  have  gained  him  distinction  in  any 
position  of  life.  He  was  a  staunch  supporter  of  the  Episcopal  Church.  He  took 
much  interest  in  agricultural  pursuits,  was  possessed  of  much  musical  talent,  which 
displayed  itself  in  early  childhood,  and  had  a  great  deal  of  love  for  the  fine  arts. 
Although  not  what  would  be  called  a  student,  he  was  well  read,  possessed  a  decided 
literary  taste,  and  had  a  remarkable  memory.  He  was  particularly  interested  in 
historical  matters,  and  gave  considerable  attention  to  the  genealogy  of  his  own  family 
and  kindred.  He  was  a  careful  observer,  wrote  tersely  and  with  much  force.  He 
was  a  staunch  supporter  of  the  government  during  the  late  civil  war,  and  threw  the 
whole  weight  of  his  influence  against  secession.  His  last  recorded  utterance  was  for 
the  safe  delivery,  and  future  prosperity  of  his  country,  just  emerging  from  the  horrors 
of  a  four  years  civil  war. 

He  was  particularly  happy  in  his  domestic  relations,  and  the  most  charming 
and  interesting  of  companions,  pouring  out  the  hoarded  stores  of  long  years'  close 
observation,  silent  thought  and  clear  analysis  of  striking  events. 

His  dignity  and  simplicity,  courtly  politeness  and  lively  sympathies,  always 
secured  for  him  the  warm  regard  of  old  and  young.  For  the  latter,  he  felt  a  pater- 
nal interest,  and  was  ever  a  wise  counsellor  and  faithful  friend. 

General  Swift's  portrait  was  painted  several  times.  Once  by  Jarvis,  by  order  of 
the  city  government  of  New  York,  to  be  hung  in  the  City  Hall.  The  Corps  of 
Engineers,  to  show  their  respect  and  affection  for  their  chief,  requested  him  to  sit  to 
Tully,  which  picture  now  hangs  in  the  library  of  the  Military  Academy  at  West 
Point  —  a  fit  depository  of  the  portrait  of  its  first  graduate,  second  Superintendent, 
and  subsequent  Inspector.  Later  in  life  his  portrait  was  painted  by  Huntington,  and 
from  this  admirable  likeness,  and  valuable  work  of  art,  the  plates  are  furnished  for 
this  book. 

"  A  man  he  seemed  of  cheerful  yesterdays  and  confident  to-morrows ;  with  a 
face  not  worldly  minded,  for  it  bore  so  much  of  nature's  impress,  gayety  and  health, 
freedom  and  hope,  but  keen  withal,  and  shrewd." 

At  the  age  of  eighty-two  he  passed  away,  surrounded  by  his  family,  full  of 
years  and  honors,  with  faculties  bright,  and  affections  warm  to  the  last ;  much 
lamented  by  the  public,  and  sincerely  mourned  by  a  wide  circle  of  friends. 

For  the  above  we  are  chiefly  indebted  to  a  Biogaplncal  Sketch  of  Gen.  Swift  by 
Gen.  G.  VV.  CuUum,  U.  S.  A.,  printed  in  1877. 

WILL. 

I  give  to  my  daughter,  Sarah  D.  Swift  Richards,  all  my  Lot  and  House  and  Furniture  at  Mill  Point,  in  fee 
simple.     I  give  to  my   executors,   McRee  Swift  and  Peter  Richards,  all  the  remainder  of  my  property  of  every 


34  GENEALOGY  OF  THE  FAMILY  OF 

kind  in  trust  to  be  conveyed  to  them  in  five  equal  shares,  to  the  five  following  named  of  my  children,  to  wit : 
Jonathan  \V.  Swift  or  heirs,  to  McRee  Swift  or  heirs,  to  my  son-in-law,  Peter  Richards  (Josie's  share,)  to  James 
Tho'.  Swift,  and  to  Foster  Swift.  I  give  to  Maria  Jephson,  widow  of  my  son  James  Foster,  Five  Hundred 
Dollars,  and  I  give  to  our  faithful  family  servant  Mary  Simpson,  Five  Hundred  Dollars,  to  buy  an  annuity. 

Done  in  the  City  of  New  York  this  20th  day  of  March,  Eighteen  Hundred  and  Sixty-five,  in  presence  of 
us  witnesses,  and  in  presence  of  each  other,  and  at  the  request  of  the  Testator.  He  declaring  this  to  be  his 
last  will.  I  '~^~'  1 

J.  G.  SWIFT.         I  SEAL  I 

WiNFiELD  Scott,  U.  S.  Army,  City  of  New  York.  ^-y' 

John  Hamilton,  17  W.  20th  St.,  New  York. 

Mem".  To  my  Brother  the  Family  Bible  and  my  Mother's  and  Father's  Portraits  for  life,  and  then  to  my 
oldest  male  Heir.  The  Urn  belongs  to  Sally,  the  Statuette  of  Napoleon  to  my  son  McRee.  The  Silver  Tea  Pot 
and  Sugar  Dish  and  Basin  from  the  Canteen  to  Sally.  The  City  Plate  and  Library  divided  among  my  Children 
within  two  years  after  my  demise.  Nearly  all  the  rest  of  the  Pictures  belong  to  Mr.  Richards.  The  Arms  to 
the  eldest  male.     Math'l  Instruments  to  McRee. 

J.  G.  SWIFT. 


Capt.  railliam  pjenro^  Stoift,  3.  ffl.,  M.  S.  SI.,  {Foster':  SamucK  Samuel^  Thomas^ 

Thomas:)   b.  at  Taunton  Nov.  6,   iSoo;   d.  Apr.  7,  1879;   m. 1825, 

Mary,  dau.  of  Charles  Stuart,  British  Consul  at  New  London,  Ct.     She  died  in  Nov. 

1837,  leaving  two  children.     His  second  wife,  to  whom  he  was  m.  Apr. ,  1844, 

was  Hannah  W.,  dau.  of  John  Howard  of  Springfield,  Mass.     She  died  at  her  resi- 
dence, No.  II  West  i6th  St.,  New  York,  Jan.  6,  1884,  ze.  63. 

CHILDREN. 
29.  Cijarica  KE.,  b. ,  1828. 

Mary,  b. ,  1826;   m.  George  Ironside,  merchant,  born  in  England. 

Gen.   Geo.   W.   Cullum,  U.  S.  Army,  printed  a  biographical  account  of  Capt 
Swift,  from  which  the  following  abstracts  are  made : 

"  It  is  difficult  in  fitting  phrase  to  do  justice  to  the  beloved  memory  of  such  a  nobleman  of  nature  as  Captain 
Swift,  and  to  portray  his  gentle,  cheerful  and  buoyant  spirit:  his  refined  courtesy  and  vivacity  of  manner;  his 
sweet  serenity  of  temper,  abounding  humor  and  genial  conversation;  his  conscientious  candor  and  ingenuous 
frankness;  his  lofty  honor,  without  soil  or  blemish;  his  devotion  to  duty  as  to  a  shrine  of  worship;  his  fulfillment 
of  pledges  and  fidelity  to  every  trust;  his  judgment  in  meeting  and  energy  in  overcoming  obstacles;  his  patient 
and  tireless  industry  in  all  pursuits;  his  modesty  in  measuring  his  achievements;  his  probity  and  justice  under 
every  temptation;  his  cheerful  confidence  and  tranquil  courage  amid  difficulties;  his  love  of  home  and  aflection 
for  kindred  and  friends;  and,  in  fine,  render  due  honor  to  all  the  varied  virtues  harmoniously  fused  together  to 
form  this  upright  officer,  who 

"  bore,  without  abuse 
The  grand  old  name  of  gentleman." 

"  In  his  official  relations,  one  who  had  known  Swift  intimately  for  forty  years,  says  in  a  letter :  '  He  carried 
into  business  the  same  qualities  that  distinguished  him  elsewhere  —  the  instinct  of  a  thorough  gentleman,  and 
the  training  of  a  soldier :  sound  sense,  and  a  delicacy  of  feeling  that  made  it  impossible  for  him  to  look  on  the 
right  or  left  of  the  path  of  duty  and  honor.  I  never  thought  of  him  as  a  trader,  but  always  as  a  trustee;  and 
trustworthiness,  in  every  act,  thought  or  opinion,  is  the  word  above  all  others  to  characterize  him.     lie  was 


THOMAS  SWIFT  OF  DORCHESTER.  35 

naturally  conservative  and  added  to  these  qualities  a  sense  of  order,  both  natural  and  acquired,  which  maintained 
every  piece  of  work  at  all  times  in  as  great  completeness  as  it  could  be.  He  was  tenacious  of  his  opinions,  and 
they  became  a  part  of  himself;  and  if  he  once  set  a  black  mark  against  a  man,  it  was  not  easy  to  induce  him  to 
erase  it,  bat  his  instincts  were  so  true  that  he  rarely  had  occasion  to  change  his  judgments  of  men.' 

But  Swift's  daily  contact  with  the  outside  crafty  world  never  blunted  his  sensibilities  nor  dwarfed  his 
intellect.  Nature  had  imbued  him  with  a  simplicity  of  heart,  a  refined  unconsciousness  of  excellence  which  had 
not  the  slightest  taint  of  vanity  or  tarnish  of  self-complacency.  This  gentle,  childlike  simplicity  was  one  of  the 
great  charms  of  his  character,  and  gave  a  placid  repose  to  his  entire  hfe.  He  had  a  sensibility  feelingly  respon- 
sive to  every  fine  impulse;  a  kindness,  Uke  golden  threads  running  through  the  tissue  of  his  whole  being;  and 
a  modesty,  which  was  reflected  in  all  his  acts,  which  colored  all  his  surroundings,  and  heightened  all  his  virtues. 
His  modesty  forbade  his  ever  dwelling  upon  his  own  great  achievements  or  daily  acts  of  benevolence,  though 
from  others  he  keenly  appreciated  generous  commendations  that  were  deserved.  His  heart  was  always  open, 
his  counsel  ever  ready,  and  his  sympathy  warmly  alive  to  all  modest  merit  struggling  with  adversity.  This  lender 
compassion  for  the  unfortunate  was  so  strong  that  even  his  stern  moral  sense  would  soften  to  the  evil-doer  led 
astray  by  alluring  temptation,  his  considerate  reply  to  relentless  Pharisees  being  always :  "  put  yourself  in  the 
poor  fellow's  place,  that  is  the  -only  way  to  judge  a  man."  Though  his  melting  charity  of  thought  commiserated 
wrong,  he  never  swerved  a  tittle  from  an  open  expression  and  earnest  advocacy  of  right.  His  candour  courted 
the  light;  rectitude  was  the  pole-star  of  his  intellectual  as  of  .his  moral  nature;  and  honor  his  sacred  tie  of 
humanity,  'the  noble  mind's  distinguishing  perfection.'  His  sense  of  justice  was  so  strong  and  so  unselfish  that, 
even  in  matters  involving  his  own  interest,  no  one  hesitated  to  abide  by  his  decisions,  for  they  were  strictly 
impartial  and  based  on  truth.  In  his  crystal  conscience  truth  entered  as  a  beam  of  pure  white  light,  without  the 
tinge  of  one  deviated  ray  of  duplicity,  directing  him  in  the  path  of  duty.  Thus  duty  was  not  the  mere  routine 
of  business,  but  a  great  moral  obligation,  the  mainspring  of  his  transactions.  Whatever  he  did  was  well  done 
and  done  systematically,  for  to  him  order  was  '  heaven's  first  law '  in  conducting  the  smallest  detail  as  the  greatest 
undertaking;  and  untiring  industry  was  the  prodigious  lever  of  his  success.  Work,  to  attain  a  worthy  and 
useful  purpose,  sweetened  his  every  moment  with  profit,  seasoned  all  hours  with  joy,  and  idle  days  were  canker- 
worms  of  his  happiness.  In  all  his  acts  practical  common  sense  was  conspicuous,  and  his  views  were  plainly 
presented  without  the  slightest  garniture  of  show,  or  veiled  with  any  gossamer  of  conventional  phraseology. 
Ever  ready  at  the  opportune  moment,  he  struck  while  the  iron  was  hot,  never,  however,  disdaining  through  per- 
severance to  make  the  iron  hot  by  striking.  He  prudently  looked  well  to  the  past  and  forward  to  the  future, 
but  his  habitual  caution,  which  weighed  in  nice  balance  truth  against  error,  was  not  the  '  leaden  servitor  of  dull 
delay.'  He  rarely  lost  his  admirable  equipoise  amid  all  the  disturbing  elements  of  a  jarring  world;  and  his 
sound  judgment,  though  so  promptly  rendered  as  to  appear  an  intuition,  was  always  based  on  ascertained  facts, 
sagacious  arguments,  and  mature  reflection.  His  capacity  for  affairs  was  incontestable,  and  such  confidence  was 
reposed  in  his  skilful  management  and  well-tried  fidelity  that,  till  a  few  years  before  he  died,  he  held,  besides 
his  public,  no  less  than  twenty-eight  private  trusts;  was  the  safe  custodian  of  many  secrets  of  sorrow,  trial  and 
misfortune ;  and  gave  as  careful  and  minute  supervision  to  the  interests  of  his  family,  relatives,  and  intimates,  as 
to  his  own.  Yet,  while  accomplishing  so  much,  he  never  seemed  busy.  His  study,  in  which  most  of  his  work 
was  done,  was  at  all  hours  open  to  his  friends,  and  no  matter  how  troublesome  or  complicated  his  work  in  hand 
might  be,  he  was  always  ready  to  turn  from  it  to  offer  his  hearty,  genial  welcome  to  a  visitor,  or  to  patiently  listen 
to  any  domestic  or  business  affair  brought  to  him  for  advice  or  consideration.  But,  when  his  day's  work  was 
done,  his  task  was  over,  and  he  enjoyed  his  quiet  evenings,  his  friends  and  his  books,  when  their  turn  came, 
without  a  trace  of  preoccupation.  Books  he  read  for  recreation  as  well  as  for  knowledge;  but  the  chief  joys  of 
his  life  were  his  family  and  friends,  particularly  his  army  associates,  for  whom  his  heart  ever  yearned.  He  was 
especially  fond  of  the  Military  Academy  and  its  traditions,  and  toward  its  graduates  he  grew  more  and  more 
kindly  and  sympathetic  with  every  waning  year  of  life.  This  affection  was  warmly  reciprocated,  for  he  had  a 
magnetic  influence  over  all  his  intimates,  and  even  the  casual  acquaintance  was  won  by  his  sincerity,  fidelity, 
manly  virtues,  and  capacity  of  brotherhood.  He  inspired  love  and  confidence  also  in  those,  whatever  their 
stations,  tranisently  employed  on  the  various  works  under  his  supervision,  for  their  interests  became  his;  their 
claims  upon  his  sympathy  or  consideration  met  with  a  prompt  response;  and  no  worthy  subordinate,  however 
necessary  to  him,  failed  of  his  influence  to  be  advanced  to  a  more  lucrative  position.  It  is  therefore  not  strange 
that  Swift  was  beloved  and  honored  by  the  whole  community  with  which  he  associated.  For  every  one  he  had 
a  gentle  and  kind  word,  a  hearty,  cordial  greeting,  and  put  all  at  ease  by  that  urbanity  of  manner,  or  high  lireed- 


36  GENEALOGY  OF  THE  FAMILY  OF 

ing  which  comes  from  the  heart,  and  is  refined  into  an  inexpressible  charm  by  the  constant  mingling  with 
polished  society.  With  the  world,  both  at  home  and  abroad,  he  had  had  much  intercourse  which  gave  him  an 
affable,  yet  dignified  demeanor,  not  as  a  garment  put  on  for  court  occasion,  but  which  was  the  habitual,  graceful 
drapery  of  life.  They  who  knew  him  slightly  perhaps  thought  him  reserved,  but  no  intimate  could  approach 
him  without  catching  the  merry  twinkle  of  his  speaking  eyes.  His  mirth  and  cheerfulness  were  the  fountain- 
springs,  sparkling  and  bright,  of  his  social  life,  which  diffused  refreshing  dews  of  gladness  upon  all  others,  and 
to  himself  gave  that  happy  temperament,  rarely  clouded  by  care,  which,  like  the  dial,  mark  only  the  hours  that 
shine. 

"  Swift  was  indeed  the  light  and  strength  of  his  immediate  circle,  and  at  his  own  fireside  was  most  truly 
appreciated,  for  he  was  the  most  devoted  of  husbands  and  Ihe  tenderest  of  parents;  to  the  friends  he  had,  and 
their  adoption  tried,  his  heart  was  faithful  to  the  last  hour  of  life;  he  was  the  incorruptible  citizen  whom  neither 
power  nor  pay  could  swerve;  the  firm  patriot  whose  whole  country  was  holy  ground;  the  efficient  officer  ever 
at  his  post  of  duty;  the  able  agent  punctiliously  faithful  in  the  administration  of  every  trust;  the  soul  of  honor 
with  the  courage  to  execute  the  commands  of  conscience;  and  in  his  manly  bosom  lofty  sentiments  were  em- 
bellished by  the  softer  refinements  of  a  most  noble  nature,  which 

"  like  gold,  the  more  'tis  tried 
The  more  shall  its  intrinsic  worth  proclaim." 

Capt.  Swift  was  appointed  a  cadet  at  the  U.  S.  Military  Academy  April  15, 
1813,  when  but  thirteen  years  old,  entering  Aug.  13,  1813,  and  there  was  distin- 
guished for  a  love  of  fun  rather  than  a  devotion  to  study.  In  December,  18 18,  he* 
was  ordered  on  Major  Long's  expedition  to  the  Rocky  Mountains,  which  somewhat 
tamed  his  playfulness.  Once,  while  on  a  buffalo  hunt,  he  was  captured  by  Pawnee 
Indians,  who  detained  him  some  months,  being  kindly  treated,  and  learning  their 
habits  of  life. 

On  the  return  of  the  expedition  in  February,  1821,  although  his  class  had  been 
graduated,  he  was  attached  to  the  end  of  the  class  roll,  and  promoted  from  July  i, 
1 819,  as  Second  Lieutenant  Corps  of  Artillery. 

After  the  completion  of  Major  Long's  map  of  the  expedition  he  was,  till  1826, 
under  Colonel  Abert  of  the  topographical  engineers,  on  surveys  for  military 
defenses  on  the  Atlantic  coast,  and  was  detailed  from  1828-29,  on  the  improvement 
of  railroads. 

From  1830  to  1832  he  was  engaged  in  the  United  States  Post  Office  depart- 
ment, in  compiling,  almost  entirely  with  his  own  hands,  an  elaborate  post-route  map 
of  the  United  States,  with  books  of  distance,  which  were  so  complete  that  they  have 
been  the  basis  of  all  since  used.  During  these  two  years  he  also  assisted  in  the 
survey  of  several  railroads. 

In  the  meantime,  August  5,  1824,  he  had  been  promoted  First  Lieutenant,  ist 
Artillery,  and  August  i,  1832,  was  attached  to  the  general  staff  of  the  army  as  Brevet 
Captain  of  Topographical  Engineers,  and  full  captain  July  7,  1838. 

Captain  Swift's  attainments  were  considered  so  high  that,  at  the  request  of 
Professor  Hasslcr,  he  was  detailed  from  1833  to  1843  on  the  great  geodetic  survey 
of  the  Atlantic  coast,  and  at  various  times  had  charge  of  fifteen  river  and  harbor 
improvements  along  the  Atlantic  coast,  from  Portland,  Me.,  to  VVestport,  Ct.     From 


THOMAS  SWIFT  OF  DORCHESTER.  37 

1836  to   1840  was  resident  superintending  engineer  of  the  Massachusetts  Western 
Railroad. 

In  1840-41  was  in  Europe,  and  after  his  return,  in  1843,  was  a  member  of  the 
board  of  visitors  to  the  Military  Academy.  From  1843  till  July  31,  1849,  when  he 
resigned  from  the  army,  he  was  the  principal  assistant  to  Colonel  Abert,  during 
which  time  he  was  often  detailed  on  important  duties.  The  principal  of  these  was 
as  a  commissioner  of  the  Illinois  and  Michigan  Canal,  of  which,  from  June  26,  1845, 
to  August  16,  1 87 1,  he  was  president  of  the  board  of  trustees.  His  was  the  organ- 
izing brain  and  directing  hand  of  the  board,  of  this  great  work  from  its  inception, 
and  during  which  $10,913,765  passed  through  its  hands,  faithfully  accounting  for 
every  dollar.  The  success  of  the  negotiation  to  secure  the  loan  from  Baring  Bros., 
to  carry  on  this  work  was  greatly  due  to  the  business  tact,  engineering  experience, 
and  upright  character  of  Captain  Swift ;  and  they  communicated  their  high  appreci- 
ation of  the  services  he  had  rendered,  and  their  personal  regards,  and  asked  him  to 
accept  an  extra  year's  salary. 

In  1843  he  erected  the  iron  beacon  still  standing  at  the  entrance  of  Black  Rock 
Harbor,  Ct.,  and  in  1848  Minot  Ledge  lighthouse. 

Shortly  after  resigning  his  commission  he  was  appointed  president  of  the  Phil- 
adelphia, Wilmington  and  Baltimore  Railroad,  which  position  he  filled  with  great 
acceptance.  On  his  resignation  he  accepted  the  presidency  of  the  Massachusetts 
Western  railroad,  acquitting  himself  to  the  entire  satisfaction  of  the  company.  In 
1853  Harvard  College  conferred  on  him  the  honorary  degree  of  A.  M.  He  became 
prominently  identified  with  other  great  railroads,  and  in  1874  went  to  England  for 
the  purpose  of  making  favorable  financial  arrangements  with  Messrs.  Baring  &  Co. 

Captain  Swift,  from  his  first  acquaintance  with  these  bankers  possessed  their  entire 
confidence,  and  to  the  day  of  his  death  was  their  confidential  adviser  relating  to 
American  railroads. 

Captain  Swift  lived  to  see  nearly  four-score  years,  passing  away  with  love,  honor 
and  troops  of  friends.  

21 

Qr.   Xatbanicr  Stoift,    {NathatKiel;   Nathaniel'   Samttel,^    Thomas'^   Thomas,^)   of 

Andover,  Mass.,  physician;   b.  in  Dorchester  July  15,  1778;  d.  Dec.  7,   1840;   m. 

Nov.    27,   1803,  Sarah,    (b.  May    22,    1783;    d.   Sept.    11,   1858,   s.   75,)   dau.   of 

Timothy  Abbott  of  Andover. 

CHILDREN. 

30.  i^atfjaniel,  b.  May  12,  1805. 

31.  (Seotgc  Baferr,  b.  July  30,  1S06. 

Sarah  Francis,  b.  Nov.  15,  1807;  m.  June  19,  1S33,  Rev.  Jeffries  Hall.   Children:     i,  Caroline, 
Li.  May  26,  1834;   m.  Moses  Foster  of  Andover.     2,  Edward  Percival,  b.  April  3,  1836.     3, 
Henry  Kirke  White,  b.  July  24,  18—.     4,  Sarah  Frances,  b.  Jan.  23,  1S41;  m.  Dr.  J.  C. 
W.  Moore,  Concord,  N.  H.     5,  Helen  Maria,  b.  Oct.  23,  1S47,  res.,  Chesterfield,  N.  H. 
William,  b.  Dec.  17,  1809;  d.  Nov.  20,  1S33. 


38 


GENEALOGY  OF  THE  FAMILY  OF 

Catharine,  b.  July  6,  1S13;  m.  Aug.  12,  1834,  John  F.  (b.  Jan  29,  1810)  son  of  Capt.  John  and 
Martha  (Swan)  Trow,  of  North  Andover,  Mass.  Children:  I,  Sarah  F.  Trow,  b.  Aug.  22, 
1835 ;  m.  Oct.  I,  1856,  A.  Carter,  Jr.,  manufacturing  jeweler,  res..  Orange,  N.  J.  2,  George  W. 
Trow,  b.  June  21,  1827;  d.  Oct.  8,  1S72.  3,  Catharine  S.  Trow,  b.  Aug.  28,  1842;  m.  Aug. 
12,  1S63,  Dr.  James  B.  Cutter.  4.  Martha  EUzabeth  Trow,  b.  Sept.  20, 1844;  m.  Oct.  lo,  18S7, 
Hugo  Peipers,  merchant  of  New  York.  5,  John  Fowler  Trow,  Jr.,  b.  May  19,  1850;  m. 
April  14,  1880,  Cora  Munn. 

John  F.  Trow  commenced  life  as  a  printer,  and  at  the  age  of  twenty-two  established  and 
pubUshed  the  Nashua  Herald,  at  Nashua,  N.  H.  He  sold  out  his  interest  to  the  editor, 
and  in  1833  left  for  New  York,  where,  in  May  of  that  year  he  engaged  in  business  under  the 
firm  name  of  West  &  Trow.  From  1840  to  1848  he  was  of  the  firm  of  Leavitt,  Trow  &  Co., 
publishers  and  booksellers,  and  John  F.  Trow,  printers.  In  1848  he  commenced  the  publi- 
cation of  Wilson's  Business  Directory,  and  in  l852of  Trow's  New  York  City  Directory,  which 
pubUcations  are  still  continued.  He  is  president  and  treasurer  of  Trow's  Printing  and  Book- 
binding Company,  and  treasurer  of  the  National  Needle  Company.  Mr.  Trow  has  been  an 
elder  in  the  Presbyterian  church  for  thirty-five  years. 

32.  Samutl,  b.  Feb.  21,  1815. 

Charles,    I    b.  July  25,  1816;  lives  in  Boston. 

33.  Sonatijan,  i    b.  July  25,  i8i6. 


OBITUARY. 

Died  at  .-Vndover,  on  the  7th  instant,  after  a  short  illness,  Dr.  Nathaniel  Swift,  in  the  sixty-third  year  of  his 
age.  By  this  providence  an  affectionate  family  have  been  bereft  of  a  kind  and  tender  father,  the  community  of 
a  strictly  honest  and  upright  citizen,  and  the  church  of  a  sincere  and  devoted  member. 

Dr.  Swift  was  affectionate  and  kind  in  his  disposition,  cheerful  and  friendly  in  his  social  intercourse,  and 
prompt  to  every  professional  call,  without  regard  to  the  unseasonableness  of  the  hour,  the  inclemency  of  the 
weather,  or  the  poverty  of  the  applicant. 

The  poor  and  the  aged  have  lost  in  him  a  friend  indeed.  It  was  his  special  delight  to  minister  to  their 
comfort.  They  experienced  his  care  and  attention  in  sickness,  and  his  counsel  and  charity  in  health.  At  his 
death,  those  who  had  experienced  the  value  of  his  services  and  kindness  gathered  around  his  remains,  to  shed 
the  silent  tear,  and  to  speak  of  his  many  virtues,  and  his  self-denial  for  their  good. 

He  held  several  important  public  offices :  those  of  Justice  of  the  Peace  and  Postmaster,  for  nearly  twenty 
years,  and  those  of  Coroner,  Notary  Public,  and  Director  in  the  Essex  Bank  for  many  years.  The  duties  of 
each  he  continued  to  discharge  until  his  decease. 

He  had  been  a  member  of  the  church  about  forty  years.  His  religion  was  of  the  heart  and  not  in  word 
only.  His  favorite  books  were  his  Bible,  with  Orton's  Exposition,  and  Bunyan's  Pilgrim's  Progress,  with  Scott's 
Notes;  the  latter  of  which  he  read  through  in  course  not  less  than  twenty  times.  It  had  been  his  habit  for 
years  to  rise  between  four  and  five  o'clock  and  spend  a  season  in  religious  reading.  The  blessing  of  his  paternal 
care  and  instruction  will  long  be  cherished  in  grateful  recollection,  and  be  felt,  we  trust,  when  time  shall  be  no 
more.  His  numerous  family  of  children  all  became  at  an  early  age  members  of  the  Church  of  Christ.  One 
most  devout  and  heavenly  minded,  some  years  since,  entered,  we  cannot  doubt,  in  his  eternal  rest.  May  the 
bereaved  widow  and  children,  and  the  sisters  and  brothers  in  this  hour  of  deep  affliction  find  the  consolation 
which  flows  alone  from  the  Christian's  life;  and  be  trained,  under  the  discipline  of  heaven,  for  a  union  with  the 
departed  dead  where  tears  and  parting  shall  be  unknown. 

December  26,  1840. 


22 


Dr.  iLHiUiam''  Stoift,  53.  S.  N.,  (Nathaniel"  Nathaniel'  Samuel^  Thomas^  Thomas') 
b.  in  Dorchester  Sept.  11,  1779;  d.  Dec.  27,  1864;  m.  Dec.  31,  1850,  Martha 
Elizabeth,  dati.  of  Luke  and  Mary  (Montague)  Phelps,  of  VVesthampton,  Mass. 


THOMAS  SWIFT  OF  DORCHESTER.  39 

CHILDREN. 

William  Jonathan,  b.  March  10,  1S52;  grad.  at  Amherst  College  1873;  College  of  Physi- 
cians and  Surgeons,  N.  Y.,   1878;   Bellevue  Hospital,  N.  Y.,   1880;   m.  June,   13,   1882, 
Marie  Aborn,  dau.  of  S.  J.  Jacobs,  of  New  York.     Residence  New  York.     They  have 
Lawrence,  b.  June  8,  1883. 
John  Baker,  b.  Sept.  30,  1S53;  grad.  Amherst  College  1873;  Harvard  Medical  School  1S77; 
m.  Oct  II,  1S82,  Hettie,  dau.  of  Andrew  H.  Potter,  of  New  Bedford,  Mass.     Residence! 
Boston.     They  have  John  Baker,  b.  Aug.  12,  1883. 
George  Montague,  b.  Sept.  2,  1856;  grad.  Amherst  College  1S76;  College  of  Physicians  and 
Surgeons,  N.  Y.,  1879;   Bellevue  Hospital,  N.   Y.,  1881;  residence.  New  York. 

Dr.  Swift  was  graduated  from  Harvard  College  in  1809,  and  from  the  Harvard 
Medical  School  in  1812.  The  same  year  he  entered  the  United  States  navy  as  a 
volunteer,  and  sailed  to  the  coast  of  Africa  on  board  the  "  Chesapeake."  On  her 
return  he  received  from  President  Madison  his  commission  as  a  surgeon  in  the  navy. 
He  was  on  board  the  "  Chesapeake  "  during  her  engagement  in  Boston  Harbor  with 
the  British  man-o'-war  "  Shannon,"  was  made  prisoner,  and  with  others  was  sent  to 
Halifax,  Nova  Scotia,  from  which  place  he  was  sent  home  with  the  wounded.  Dr. 
Swift  was  with  Lawrence  when  he  died,  and  was  presented  by  him  with  his  belt.  In 
18 1 3  he  was  on  the  brig  "  Syren,"  was  again  taken  prisoner  and  sent  to  the  Cape  of 
Good  Hope,  where  he  was  kept  six  months.  In  1820  Dr.  Swift  was  on  the  "Ontario," 
from  which  vessel  he  was  detached  and  sent  to  Tunis  as  acting  United  States  consul, 
where  he  remained  si.xteen  months.  In  1827  he  was  on  the  frigate  "Erie;"  1829 
on  the  "  Constellation,"  cruising  to  England,  France,  and  in  the  Mediterranean. 
From  about  1833  to  1836  Dr.  Swift  was  stationed  at  the  Naval  Hospital  in 
New  York.  This  service  was  during  the  cholera  epidemic.  In  1836  he  was  on  the 
"North  Carolina;"  was  fleet  surgeon  of  the  Pacific  squadron,  and  on  his  return  in 
1839  was  stationed  at  New  York,  Boston  and  Newport,  for  different  periods.  In 
1862,  at  his  own  request,  he  was  placed  on  the  retired  list,  having  spent  fifty-one 
years  in  the  service  of  his  country.  His  residence  for  several  years  was  Brooklyn, 
N.  Y.,  where  he  died  in  1864.  Dr.  Swift  was  a  gentleman  of  polished  manners, 
extremely  methodical,  and  always  avoiding  anything  like  display.  He  was  a  great 
reader,  very  fond  of  books,  and  collected  a  large  library. 


23 

Capt.  Samuer  Siuift,  (Nathaniel^  Nathaniel  Samuel^  Thomas,^  Thomas')  b.  in 
Dorchester  Dec.  2,  1785;  d.  March  15,  1862;  m.  Nov.  3,  1819,  Eliza  Hester,  (b. 
Oct.  IS,  1800;   d.  May  i,  1866,)  dau.  of  John  Willkings  of  Wilmington,  N.  C. 

CHILDREN. 
Mary  Wyatt,  b.  May  i,  1823;  drowned  May  1,  1841. 


40  GENEALOGY  OF  THE  FAMILY  OF 

Eliza  Hester,   b.   Feb.    I,    1825;  m.  Feb.  4,    1845,  Thomas  M.  Woodruff  of  Trenton,  N.  J., 
who  died  in  Chicago  Jan.  28,  1880.     Children:  George,  b.  Jan.  30,  1846;   William  Swift, 
b.  March  4,  1849;   m.  in  Dixon,  111.,  July  19,  1879,  Ruth  Frances  Wood. 
George  Baker,  b.  Nov.  21,  1826;  d.  March  28,  1827. 
34.    Samuel,  b.  May  22,  1S2S. 

Isabella  Sarah,  b.  April  11,  1832;  m.  Oct.  28,  1852,  Robert  J.  Woodruff,  M.  D.,  of  Trenton, 
N.J.  Children:  Mary  Jean,  b.  Aug.  28,  1835;  ">•  J^i"-  ^4.  1880,  A.  B.  Charbonnel  of 
Chicago;  Isabella  Louisa,  b.  Aug.  6,  1855;  d.  May  28,  1859;  Susan  Hester,  b.  June 
16,  1858. 

Harriet,  b.  Aug.  19,  1834;  died  Sept.  22,  1835. 

Harriett,  b.  July  4,  1836;  died  Feb.  5,  1880;  m.  Sept.  —  1866,  Henry  O.  Nichols  of  Dor- 
chester.   Children:  Grace  Swift,  b.  Nov.  3,  1867;  Arthur  Topliff,  b.  July  7,  1869;  Carrie 
Frances,  b.  Oct.  3,  1877. 
35.    aailliam,  b.  July  22, 1839. 

Mary,  b.  Sept.  4,  1841;  m.  at  Springfield,  111.,  Feb.  14,  1871,  Professor  Orestes  H.  St.  John 
of  Topeka,  Kansas.     He  is  a  geologist  and  paleontologist.     No  children. 

Charlotte,  b.  May  27,  1843;  m.  at  Princeton  February  22,  1866,  to  Charles  F.  Little,  M.  D. 
Practiced  a  number  of  years  in  Princeton,  then  removed  to  Manhattan,  Kansas.  Children : 
Eliza  Ada,  b.  June  22,  1S67;  NelUe  Perkins,  b.  Dec.  15,  1S68;  Blanche  Alpine,  b. 
Dec.  18,  1869;  d.  Nov.  27,  1878.  Jennie  Belle,  b.  Oct.  8,  1871;  Frederick  Swift,  b. 
June  25,  1873. 

Capt.  Swift  chose  as  his  profession  a  seafaring  life,  and  in  1806  made  his  first 
voyage,  following  the  sea  as  a  shipmaster  twenty-four  years. 

He  commanded,  with  success,  the  ships  of  Stephen  Girard  of  Philadelphia,  and 
those  of  Goodhue  &  Co.,  and  is  said  to  have  been  the  first  American  to  make  a 
voyage  to  the  north-west  coast. 

He  was  a  man  of  commanding  presence,  and  possessed  much  personal  beauty. 
A  portrait  painted  in  Antwerp  is  in  the  possession  of  his  son-in-law,  Mr.  Nichols,  of 
Dorchester.  His  daughter,  Mrs.  E.  H.  Woodruff  of  Princeton,  111.,  has  a  miniature 
of  him  taken  in  early  life,  and  his  daughter,  Mrs.  Charlotte  Little,  has  one  of  her 
mother. 

In  1836  Capt.  Swift  left  the  sea,  and  removed  from  Dorchester  to  Geneva,  N.  Y., 
and  in  1838  he  removed  to  Princeton,  111.,  where  he  died. 

OBITUARY.  • 

Died  in  Princeton,  on  Saturday  morning  the  15th,  of  Paralysis,  Capt.  Samuel  Swift,  in  the  78th  year  of 
his  age. 

[  COMMUNICATED.] 

He  was  born  in  Dorche.ster,  Massachusetts,  and  having  early  in  life  manifested  a  predilection  for  the  sea, 
he  entered  into  the  service  of  the  Boston  and  London  Shipping  Company.  He  subseciuently  commanded  some 
of  the  best  merchant  ships  of  New  York  and  Philadelphia,  and  made  in  them  many  long  and  perilous  voyages. 
He  live  times  circumnavigated  the  glol)C,  and  from  long  and  active  service  acquired  a  high  character  for  pmfes- 
sional  skill.  He  was  a  man  of  marked  individuality  of  character;  he  possessed  great  determination  and 
courage,  and  displayed  a  rare  and  admirable  coolness  in  the  presence  of  danger.  Though  a  great  part  of  his 
life  had  been  spent  on  the  sea  in  active  employment,  which  does  not  afford  much  for  the  acquisition  of  knowledge 
unconnected  with  nautical  pursuits,  the  fund  of  general  information  he  possessed  was  large.  He  w.is  well  read 
in  the  English  classics,  and  had  an  especial  admiration  of  the  works  of  Pope,  Addison,  Goldsmith  and  Johnson. 

In  all  his  long  and  eventful  life  his  probity  and  honor  were  never  questioned,  and  it  might  with  truth  be 
said  of  him  that  he  was  that  "  noblest  work  of  God,  an  honest  man." 

March  15,  1862. 


THOMAS  SWIFT  OF  DORCHESTER.  41 

24 

Sai^n^  Stoift,  (John'  Ebcncser^  Samuel,'  Tlionias'^  Thomas' )  b.  March  12,  1775  ;  d. 
Sept.  26,  1838;   m.  Elizabeth  Parker,  b.  ;   d.  Aug.  27,  1863,  daughter 

of  Capt.  Gideon  and  Elizabeth  Hovey  Parker,  of  Ipswich,  a  meritorious  officer  of 
the  Revolution  and  correspondent  of  Washington. 

CHILDREN. 

John  McLean,  b.  Nov.  23,  181S;  went  to  sea;   never  heard  from. 

Elizabeth  Rogers,  b.  Jan.  19,  1820. 

William  Parker,  b.  Dec.  27,  1821;  d.  June  3,  1875. 

Dean  Manning,  b.  Oct.  23,  1S24;  d.  Aug.  26,  1859;  m.  April  30,  1850,  Mary  Sumner,  b.  Aug. 

20,  1827,  dau.  of  Lemuel  Sumner.     She  m.  2d,  Moses  C.  Chapman.     Had  two  children  who 

died  young,  Mary  Frances  and  Dean  Manning. 
Mary  Frances,  b.  Oct.  12,  182S. 

Mr.  Swift  followed  his  father's  business,  and  occupied  the  family  mansion  on 
Milton  Hill,  in  which  all  his  children  were  born.  He  was  a  man  of  standing  in  the 
community;  universally  esteemed  for  his  integrity,  and  filled  several  important 
ofifices.  His  only  surviving  children.  Misses  Elizabeth  R.  and  Mary  F.  Swift, 
ladies  of  refinement  and  culture,  live  near  by  the  old  homestead.  Their  charming 
home  contains  many  interesting  and  valuable  relics  of  the  olden  time,  chief  among 
which  is  the  old  oak  chair  before  mentioned.  They  also  have  a  rare  and  curious 
Venetian  mirror  of  large  size,  and  a  fine  old  book-case  which  is  thought  to  have 
belonged  to  Gov.  Hutchinson.  These  ladies  are  the  last  of  a  family  prominent  in 
Milton's  history  for  two  centuries,  though  representatives  still  sustain  the  character 
of  the  family  in  other  towns. 


25 

Samucr  Sinift,   (^Samuel'    Ebcnczcr*    Samuel^   Thomas"'   Thomas!)   b.   Sept.   22, 
1783;   d.  Jan.  II,  1S26;  m.  Nov.  2,  1806,  Polly  Cheney,  b.  in  Roxbury  ; 

d.   May  5,    1828,   £e.   42:   dau.   of  Lieut.   Thomas   and    Jane    (Foster)    Cheney    of 
Roxbury. 

CHILDREN. 

Samuel  Foster,  b.  Oct.  6,  1807;  a  drummer  in  the  U.  S.  Army;  died  in  service  at  Old  Point 

Comfort. 
Child  died  in  infancy. 

36.  SMilliam  Augustus,  b.  Oct.  iS,  iSn. 

37.  ILefajis,  b.  Jan.  16,  1815. 

Andrew,  ;   d.  in  Philadelphia  Mar.  22,  1S41. 

Ebenezer, 

Thomas,  ;   d.  young  in  Roxbury. 

Mr,   Swift  was   a   hatter  of  Roxbury;    a   man   of  great   humor,  of  whom   many 
anecdotes  are  told. 


GENEALOGY  OF  THE  FAMILY  OF 


26 


CTommotiorc  Jionatijan  EJEilliams'  Stoift,  5S..  S.  N.,  (^Joseph  Gardner ,  Foster ,  Samiiel\ 
Samuel^  Tliomas';  Thomas^)  b.  March  30,  1808,  at  Taunton,  Mass.;  d.  July  30, 
1877;  m.  Jan.  10,  1833,  Isabella  Fitzhugh,  youngest  child  of  Col.  William  Fitzhugh 
of  Hampton.     Mrs.  Swift  resides  at  Geneva,  N.  Y. 

CHILDREN. 

Fitzhugh,  b.  March  12,  1S41;   d.  Dec.  31,  i860,  at  sea. 

Joseph  Gardner,  b.  Feb.  4,  1844;   d.  March  2,  1871;  cadet  at  the  U.  S.  MiUtary  Academy  from 

Sept.  1S62  to  June  iS,  1S66,  when  he  was  graduated  and  promoted  in  the  army  to  2 J  Artillery. 

Served  in  garrison  at  Richmond,  Va.,  Sept.  30,  1S66. 
Ann  Elizabeth,  b.  Oct.  31,  1846;    m.  Sept.  3,  1S72,  Lieut.  John  Williams  Martin,  4th  U.  S. 

Cavalry.     They  have  WiUiam  Swift  Martin,  b.  Feb.  4,  1874;   John  Throop  Martin,  b.  Jan. 

20th,  1884,  d.  Jan.  22,  1885. 

Commodore  Swift  was  appointed  from  North  Carolina  August  25,  1823  ;  went 
to  the  Mediterranean  in  1824;  returned  in  1826;  went  to  the  Pacific  in  frigate 
"Brandywine"  in  1826;  returned  in  1829;  examined  in  1820  and  promoted  in  1831; 
went  to  the  Mediterranean  in  1831  ;  returned  in  1832  ;  steamship  "Fulton"  Atlantic 
coast  1840;  special  service  1850-5.  Commissioned  Lieutenant  March  3,  1861  ; 
commissioned  a  Commodore  July  16,  1862. 


27 

ffici\E£'  S&3ift,  (^Joseph  Gardner," Foster^'  Sanmel*  Samuel^  Thomas^  Thomas,^)  b. 
April  15,  1819,  in  New  York;  m.  Sept.  15,  1842,  Abby  Hortense  Chew,  daughter 
of  Thomas  John  Chew,  U.  S.  N.  For  her  ancestry  see  Pedigree  of  Chew  by  Rev.  L. 
B.  Thomas,  p.  33. 

CHILDREN. 

Hortense  Hallam,  b.  Aug.  22,  1843;  d.  April  28,  1848. 

Louisa  Walker,  b.  Aug.  23,  1845. 

Elizabeth  Chew,  b.  July  29,  1847;  >"•  J""^  ">  1879,  George  Henry  Janeway  of  New  Bruns- 
wick, N.  J. 

Alexander  Joseph,  b.  Aug.  20,  1S49;  grad.  Rutgers  College  1868;  Polytechnic  Institute, 
Troy,   1872. 

Lawrence  Chew,  b.  Feb.  24,  1852;  grad.  College  of  Physicians  and  Surgeons,  N.  Y.,  1878, 
Charity  Hospital,  N.  Y.,  1880;  m.  April  16,  1884,  Mabel  Bruce,  dau.  of  Col.  Joseph  M.  Griffith 
of  Des  Moines,  Iowa.     They  have Swift,  b.  March  16,  1885. 

Thomas  Delano,  b.  Feb.  10,  1854;  grad.  Rutgers  College  1875;  College  of  Physicians  and  Sur- 
geons, N.  Y.,  1879;   Bellevue  Hospital  1881. 

Jonathan  Williams,  b.  March  30,  1856;  d.  May  2,  1862. 

Josephine  Richards,  b.  Jan.  10,  1859. 

Robert  Hali.am,  b.  June  16,  1863;  d.  March  4,  1865. 

Mauy  Lewis,  b.  May  11,  1865. 


THOMAS  SWIFT  OF  DORCHESTER.  43 

Mr.  Swift,  now  retired  from  active  business  life,  resides  at  New  Brunswick,  New 
Jersey.  He  has  been  a  successful  civil  engineer,  engaged  in  the  construction  and 
management  of  railroads  in  various  States,  and  later  in  manufacturing  enterprises. 
He  inherits  much  of  his  father's  literary  tastes  and  high-bred  courtesy ;  and  the 
warm  interest  he  has  shown  in  the  progress  of  this  work  has  been  of  material 
assistance  to  the  compiler.  From  the  family  Bible,  which  belonged  to  his  father, 
the  late  General  Joseph  Gardner  Swift,  he  has  furnished  much  data ;  and  by  his 
kind  permission  the  Journal  of  General  Swift  has  been  printed  from  the  original  copy 
in  his  possession.  Besides  this  valuable  document,  Mr.  Swift  has  inherited  the  ancient 
oil  painting  of  the  family  coat-of-arms,  and  the  portraits  of  his  grandparents.  Dr. 
and  Mrs.  Foster  Swift,  by  Jarvis,  and  has  had  them  photographed  for  this  work. 

In  1852,  when  Mr.  Swift  was  traveling  abroad  with  his  father,  General  Joseph 
Gardner  Swift,  and  while  walking  in  the  grounds  of  the  Tower  of  London,  his 
father  was  accosted  by  one  of  the  guards,  who  expressed  surprise  at  seeing  Mr. 
Swift  out  so  early  in  the  day. 

"  How  do  you  know  me,  my  man?"  said  General  Swift. 

"Why,  sir,  I  see  you  constantly." 

The  man  had  mistaken  the  General  for  Mr.  Swift,  the  keeper  of  the  crown  jewels. 
They  found  Mr.  Swift  lived  in  the  enclosure  and  went  to  his  house,  and  to  their 
astonishment  were  met  by  a  gentleman  of  advanced  years,  the  counterpart  almost  of 
Mr.  Swift's  grandfather,  Dr.  Foster  Swift — Edmund  Lenthal  Swift,  barrister,  K.  C.  J. 
They  lunched  and  spent  several  hours  with  him,  and  found  he  was  of  the  Rother- 
ham  family  of  Swifts.  This  interview  is  mentioned  in  Notes  and  Queries  by  E. 
L.  Swift. 


28 

mi.  Sa^iiX-'  Si'mxii,  (Joseph  Gardner^  Foster^  Samuel,"  Samuel,'  Thomas;'  Thomas') 
b.  at  Geneva,  N.  Y.,  Oct.  31,  1833;  d.  May  10,  1875;  m.  Oct.  29,  1862,  Alida 
Carroll,  daughter  of  Dr.  D.  H.  Fitzhugh,  and  had 

Sarah  Delano,  b.  Feb.  5,  1864. 

MEMORIAL. 

Dr.  Swift,  who  is  said  to  have  resembled  his  father  more  than  any  of  his  sons,  was  graduated  at  Hobart 
College,  Geneva,  in  1852.  During  the  last  year  of  his  college  course  he  attended  lectures  in  the  Medical  College 
in  Geneva,  but  was  dissuaded  from  continuing  his  medical  studies  after  graduation,  by  his  father,  who  thought 
him  too  delicate,  physically,  to  endure  the  arduous  labors  of  a  doctor's  life.  To  gratify  his  father  he  read  law 
reluctantly  for  eight  months,  in  the  office  of  Judge  Kent,  in  this  city,  and  then,  feeling  the  need  of  a  more 
liberal  classical  and  literary  culture  than  he  had  obtained  at  Hobart  College,  he  entered  the  Junior  class  at 
Harvard  University,  and  graduated  at  that  institution  in  the  class  of  1854,  the  subject  of  his  inaugural  thesis 
being  "The  Influence  of  Shakspeare's  Plays  on  the  Popular  Estimation  of  Historical  Characters."     Thus  fur- 


44  GENEALOGY  OF  THE  FAMILY  OF 

nished  with  the  broad  foundation  of  a  Hlier.il  education  and  a  fine  Uterary  taste,  he  resolved  to  gratify  his  early 
inclination  to  study  medicine.  In  the  fall  of  1854  he  became  a  favorite  pupil  of  Dr.  WiUard  Parker,  and  from 
that  time  until  the  summer  of  1870,  when  he  was  prostrated  by  the  disease  which  finally  destroyed  him,  he  gave 
himself  with  untiring  energy  and  self-sacrificing  devotion  to  the  study  and  practice  of  his  profession.  He  grad- 
uated at  the  College  of  Physicians  and  Surgeons,  in  the  class  of  1857.  He  immediately  entered  Bellevue 
Hospital,  and  served  during  two  years  on  the  same  staff  with  his  attached  friend,  Dr.  Edward  B.  Dalton.  In  the 
spring  of  1S59  he  estabhshed  himself  in  private  practice  in  this  city.  He  hart  already  p.issed  the  precarious 
period  in  the  young  doctor's  course,  and  had  begun  to  lay  the  foundation  of  a  brilliant  career  as  a  teacher  and 
practitioner,  when  the  war  broke  out,  in  the  spring  of  1S61,  and  animated  by  a  loyalty  which,  with  him,  was 
something  more  than  the  contagious  enthusiasm  which  pervaded  the  country  at  that  time,  he  forsook  his  prac- 
tice and  went  as  surgeon  to  the  8th  regiment  of  New  York  State  Militia,  in  response  to  the  first  call  for  troops 
to  defend  the  capitol.  At  the  battle  of  Bull  Run  he  and  his  staff  were  captured  while  in  the  performance  of 
their  duty,  and  being  almost  the  only  prisoners  who  were  not  taken  in  the  act  of  hasty  retreat,  they  were  released 
on  parole  in  the  city  of  Richmond,  by  Gen.  Beauregard,  and,  after  a  brief  detention,  returned  on  parole  to  their 
homes.  Thus  debarred  from  the  privilege  of  further  service  in  the  army,  Dr.  Swift  resumed  the  practice  of  his 
profes.sion.  In  1S62  he  married  the  daughter  of  Dr.  Fitzhugh,  of  Living'iton  County,  who  with  one  child,  a 
daughter,  survives  him.  His  success  from  this  time  was  rapid  and  exceptionally  brilliant.  He  was  successively 
appointed  physician  to  St.  Luke's,  and  the  Children's  Hospital;  Assistant  Professor  of  Obstetrics  in  the  College 
of  Physicians  and  Surgeons,  and  afterwards  Clinical  Professor  of  skin  diseases  in  the  Bellevue  Hospital  College, 
and  Professor  of  Obstetrics  in  the  Long  Island  Medical  College.  He  had  thus  obtained  within  the  brief  period 
of  ten  years,  by  his  scholarly  acquirements,  by  his  ability  as  a  teacher,  and  by  his  skill  as  a  practitioner,  a  claim 
to  the  first  rank  in  his  profession.  He  had  scarcely  begun  to  enjoy  the  honor  and  rewards  of  his  well-earned 
position,  when,  in  the  summer  of  1870,  after  a  season  of  untiring  labor  and  peculiarly  trying  experiences,  he 
began  to  exhibit  the  signs  of  the  pulmonary  disease  to  which  he  finally  succumbed.  Conscious  as  he  was  of  the 
threatening  nature  of  his  malady,  he  worked  on  for  some  time,  regardless  of  the  affectionate  warnings  of  his 
friends  and  medical  advisers,  and  only  reluctantly  yielded  to  their  counsels  when  he  fainted  in  the  Theatre  at 
the  Bellevue  College,  in  the  effort  to  fulfil  an  engagement  to  lecture  in  the  opening  session  of  that  institution  in 
the  fall  of  1870.  He  soon  afterwards  went  to  Europe,  but  returned  in  the  spring  of  1871,  without  material 
improvement  in  health.  The  winter  of  1S71-72  he  passed  on  the  Pacific  Coast,  in  the  congenial  companionship 
of  his  friend,  Dr.  Dalton,  whose  brief  but  brilliant  career  he  there  saw  closed.  The  following  winter  he  passed 
in  the  south  of  France,  where,  having  procured  an  authorization  from  the  French  government,  he  hoped  to 
practice  his  profession.  He  returned  to  this  country,  however.  In  the  spring  of  1873,  to  visit  his  family,  and  his 
disease  having  made  considerable  progress,  he  was  induced  to  remain  at  home,  instead  of  returning  to  France 
as  he  had  intended.  His  experience  of  the  effects  of  a  warm  climate  upon  his  disease  not  having  been  entirely 
satisfactory,  he  resolved  to  try  the  experiment  of  spending  a  winter  in  the  northern  part  of  this  State,  at  Morrisville, 
in  Madison  County.  He  was  so  encouraged  by  the  promising  effects  of  a  cold  climate,  that  he  purchased  a  house 
at  Morrisville,  and  determined  to  abandon,  for  a  time,  all  hopes  of  resuming  his  practice,  and  devote  himself  to 
the  recovery  of  his  health.  In  the  summer  of  1874,  however,  it  became  evident  to  him  and  to  his  friends  that 
he  was  fast  losing  ground  in  the  conflict  with  his  disease,  and  last  fall  he  decided  to  try  again  the  effect  of  a 
warm  climate.  He  went  to  the  Island  of  Santa  Cruz,  where  he  passed  a  lonely  winter,  separated  from  his  wife 
and  child,  and  sustained  only  by  the  hope,  which  grew  fainter  day  by  day,  of  arresting  the  progress  of  his  dis- 
ease. The  last  weeks  of  his  life  were  cheered  by  the  presence  of  a  sister  who,  with  her  husband  and  a  nephew, 
went  to  him  in  the  hope  of  bringing  him  back  to  his  home  to  die.  This  hope  was  not  abandoned  until  a  few 
days  before  his  death,  when  he  began  to  fail  so  rapidly  that  he  realized  the  near  approach  of  death,  and  met  it 
with  cheerful  resignation,  and  in  the  complete  assurance  of  a  Christian  faith.  He  died  on  the  loth  of  May.  His 
remains  were  brought  home,  and  now  rest  in  the  family  ground  at  Geneva.  Such  is  the  brief  record  of  a  life  of 
which  we  all  knew  the  promise  and  now  lament  the  untimely  end.  Dr.  .Swift's  professional  career,  though  too 
lirief  to  be  marked  by  any  work  which  will  perpetuate  his  name  on  the  scroll  of  fame,  was  one  that  will  leave  a 
lasting  and  enviable  impression  on  the  memory  of  all  who  enjoyed  his  friendship,  or  had  the  privilege  of  inter- 
course with  him  as  a  teacher  or  physician.  He  possessed  in  a  high  degree  the  intellectual  and  moral  qualities 
which  lit  a  man  for  the  responsible  office  of  a  physician.  Love  of  nature  and  loyalty  to  the  truth  were  his  pre- 
eminent characteristics.  He  was  imbued  with  the  true  scientific  spirit,  and  his  professional  acquirements,  in  all 
departments,  as   far  as  they  went,  were  free  from  the  chalT  of  speculation  and   hypothesis.     He  hated  sham 


THOMAS  SWIFT  OF  DORCHESTER.  4.5 

wherever  he  found  it,  whether  it  lay  in  the  conceit  of  those  who  deceived  themselves,  or  in  the  dishonest 
practices  of  those  who  sought  to  deceive  others.  He  had  all  the  qualities  of  a  successful  teacher,  thorough 
honesty,  large  experience,  liberal  acquirements,  and  literary  attainments,  and  there  can  be  no  doubt  that  the 
cause  of  sound  medical  education  lost  one  of  its  ablest  and  most  promising  exponents  in  his  early  death.  As 
a  physician,  it  may  be  truly  said,  that  few  men  in  our  profession  possessed  or  deserved  in  a  larger  degree  than 
Dr.  Swift  the  confidence  and  alfection  of  his  patients.  His  gentle  and  winning  address,  his  sagacity  and  skill  as 
a  clinical  observer,  his  fertility  of  resources,  and  above  all,  his  fidelity,  commanded  the  affection,  respect  and 
absolute  trust  uf  all  to  whom  he  ministered.  His  work  was  always  thorough,  and  he  gave  to  his  cases  a  thought- 
ful and  laborious  study,  which  distinguished  him  from  the  routine  practitioner.  His  sense  of  professional  duty 
was  so  high  that  he  never  counted  the  cost  to  his  health  in  fultilling  it,  and  there  is  little  question  in  the  minds 
of  his  friends  that  he  finally  fell  a  victim  to  his  untiring  and  self-sacrificing  labors.  This  sense  of  professional 
duty  in  Dr.  Swift  was  not  dictated  simply  by  a  sympathetic  nature,  or  by  a  desire  to  please  or  win  the  confidence  of 
his  patients,  but  mainly  by  a  profound  conviction  of  the  responsibility  he  assumed,  whenever  he  was  called  to 
the  bedside  of  those  who  trusted  themselves  to  his  care.  But  to  all  who  enjoyed  the  privilege  of  Dr.  Swift's 
companionship,  his  remarkable  social  qualities  gave  a  charm  to  his  character  which  your  memory  of  him  will 
recall  better  than  any  words  of  mine.  Who  of  us  can  forget  his  refined  and  genial  presence;  his  humor,  that 
would  illumine  tears,  and  the  wit  whose  shafts  were  never  poisoned  with  malice,  but  always  gleamed  with  mirth? 
Cultivated  beyond  most  men  in  our  profession  in  general  literature,  and  devoted  to  all  that  was  pure  and  elevat- 
ing in  art,  his  conversation  was  always  entertaining  and  often  brilliant  in  the  originality  and  keenness  of  his 
criticism.  He  was  never  commonplace,  because  he  never  borrowed  his  convictions  from  other  men  unless  they 
accorded  with  his  own  observation,  or  had  been  first  subjected  to  his  own  enlightened  reflection.  But  with  all 
his  intellectual  gifts  and  accomplishments.  Dr.  Swift  possessed  a  kindly  and  sympathetic  nature  that  was  quick 
to  share  the  sorrows  as  well  as  the  joys  of  his  friends.  As  in  his  professional  relations  there  was  no  self  sacrifice 
too  great  for  him  to  make  in  the  discharge  of  what  he  recognized  as  his  duty,  so  in  his  closer  relations  to  his 
family  and  his  friends  there  was  a  love  and  a  loyalty  that  knew  no  bounds.  The  keenness  with  which  he  some- 
times suffered  from  his  sense  of  his  professional  responsibility  was  only  exceeded  by  the  painful  sympathy  with 
which  he  realized  the  trials  of  his  friends.  To  the  severe  strain  which  he  suffered  from  both  of  these  causes  in 
the  last  year  of  his  practice,  his  illness,  as  I  have  before  suggested,  was  doubtless  largely  due,  and  while  we 
cannot  but  grieve  that  a  man  of  so  great  promise  is  lost  so  early  to  our  profession,  and  a  friend  of 
such  genial  and  noble  nature  is  gone  from  us  in  the  fullness  of  his  manhood,  we  have  reason  to  rejoice  that  we 
were  permitted  for  even  a  brief  period  to  enjoy  the  privilege  of  his  friendship,  and  the  precious  example  of  his 
character.  —  From  a  sketch  by  IVm.  H.  Draper,  M.  D..  printed  in  iSjj. 


29 

(fCbartcs'  m..  Stoift,  (William  Hc7iryf  Foster':  Samiiei:  Samuel,^  Thomas^  Thomas^) 
,  182^;   m.  ,  Margaret,  dau.  of  John  Howard  of  Springfield,  Mass., 


sister  o.f  his  stepmother.      Summer  residence  Pequot  Avenue,  New  London,  Ct. 

CHILDREN. 
Mary  H. 

Louisa  Josephine. 


30 

i^atjjanfcF  Sfatft,  (Nathaniel^  Nathaniel:  Nathaniel:  Samuci:  Thomas^  Thomas:) 
of  Andover,  merchant;    b.  May   12,   1S05  ;    d.  Sept.  6,   1878;    m.  Oct.   10,   1832, 


46 


GENEALOGY  OF  THE  FAMILY  OF 


Martha  Jane,  dau.  of  Francis  Kidder  ot  Andover.     She  died   Nov.  28,   1843,  aged 
30  years.     He  next  married  Oct.  13,  1847,  Almena  Jacobs. 


CHILDREN. 


George  Francis,  b.  Dec.  10,  1S33. 
Martha  Elizabeth,  b.  Feb.  15,  1836. 
Charlotte  Harris,  b.  July  26,  1839. 
Anna  Hartwell,  b.  Sept.  18,  1842. 


OBITUARY. 

[From  the  Boston  Daily  Advertiser  of  Sept^  20,  1S78.] 

One  by  one  our  older  citizens  and  fellow  townsmen  are  passing  away.  To  those  who  are  following  next  in 
file,  the  ranks  must  appear  to  be  rapidly  thinning  out.  But  two  weeks  ago  we  cast  a  last  sorrowful  glance  upon 
the  bier  of  our  honored  and  esteemed  townsman,  Captain  Oliver  Hazard  Perry. 

One  week  later,  to  a  day,  the  funeral  obsequies  were  held  over  the  mortal  remains  of  Mr.  Swift,  a  native 
and  life- long  resident  of  Andover.  The  light  of  a  pure  and  unblemished  life  has  gone  out.  A  kind-hearted,  gener- 
ous, useful  and  esteemed  citizen  has  passed  away  from  our  sight.  One  more  is  added  to  the  great  majority  on 
the  other  side  of  the  chasm  between  the  present  life.  But  the  memory  of  the  just  is  blessed.  In  this  thought 
is  the  consolation  which  remains  to  those  nearest  and  dearest  in  the  relations  of  life  to  our  departed  friend. 

Mr.  Swift  was  born  in  Danvers  May  12,  1805,  and  was  the  eldest  son  of  the  late  Dr.  Nathaniel  and  Sarah 
Abbot  Swift.  Early  in  life  —  almost  in  his  boyhood  —  he  engaged  in  mercantile  pursuits,  and  upon  attaining  his 
majority  he  became  a  partner  in  a  mercantile  firm  in  Andover.  A  business  tact  and  shrewdness  was  mani- 
fested from  the  earhest  stage  of  his  business  career.  Promptness,  straightforwardness  and  honesty,  three 
sterling  qualities  of  the  business  man,  were  prominent  in  his  character,  and  promised  from  the  outset  assurance 
of  success.  And  success  came  readily  and  naturally;  gradually,  but  not  spasmodically  —  a  healthy  success. 
By  a  prudent,  sagacious  and  careful  management  of  his  business  affairs,  he  was  enabled  to  retire  therefrom  with 
a  competency  for  his  family  before  he  was  fifty  years  of  age.  But  these  qualities,  which  were  so  prominently 
manifested  in  the  duties  pertaining  to  his  business,  were  by  no  means  unnoticed  or  overlooked.  His  correct 
judgment  and  capacity  for  usefulness  were  very  soon  called  into  active  exercise  in  positions  which,  while  bene- 
fitting society,  the  cause  of  education,  the  interest  of  his  native  town,  and  the  general  welfare  of  his  fellow-men, 
reflected  a  lasting  honor  upon  his  good  name  and  reputation,  fie  proved  himself  to  be  more  than  a  successful 
business  man.  His  instinctive  honesty,  his  unswerving  integrity,  his  forecast,  his  sound  judgment  and  his  correct 
and  exquisite  taste,  were  all  brought  together  and  made  to  subserve  and  round  out  happily  a  very  useful  and  hon- 
orable life  of  official  duties.  Fur  twenty-eight  years  a  working  director  in  the  .Andover  Bank  (State  and  National,) 
for  thirty-six  years  a  trustee  of  the  Andover  Savings  Bank,  and  its  president  for  eighteen  years — to  the  date  of  his 
decease,  and  for  twenty-eight  years  a  trustee  of  the  .Vbbot  Academy  for  young  ladies,  his  advice  and  counsel 
always  commanded  the  attention  and  respect  of  his  associates.  In  1852  he  was  elected  treasurer  of  the  Abbot 
Academy,  and  to  the  permanent  life  and  success  of  this  institution  he  devoted  himself  with  unwonted  ardor,  and 
with  a  strength  and  vigor  indicative  of  his  earnest  and  unstinted  love  for  the  work  he  had  undertaken.  From 
the  very  first  he  manifested  a  determination  to  render  the  surroundings  of  the  Academy  pleasing  and  attractive, 
to  enlarge  the  area  of  its  domain,  to  beautify  and  adorn  the  same,  and  all  his  ardent  aspirations  to  this  end 
appear  to  have  been  crowned  with  admirable  and  womlerful  success. 


31 

Br.  Gtorsc  15a{ttr'  Sinift,  (Nathaniel^  Nathaniel^  Nathaniel,'  Samuel^   Thomas', 
Thomas')  b.  July  30,  1806;   d.  1872;   m.  Nov.  8,  1831,  Mary  Bennett 

Warren,  of  Framingham,  Mass.  Dr.  Swift  was  graduated  at  the  Harvard  Medical 
School  in  1830,  and  practiced  in  Manchester,  N.  H.,  Lawrence,  Mass.,  and 
New  York. 


THOMAS  SWIFT  OF  DORCHESTER.  47 


CHILDREN. 
Mary. 

George  Warren. 
Catherine. 
Frank. 


32 

Samuel'  Sinift,  (Nathaniel,'^  Nathaniel^  Nathaniel*  Samuel^  Thomas^  Thomas^) 
merchant,  b.  Feb.  21,  1815;  d.  Dec.  5,  1851,  in  Brooklyn,  N.  Y. ;  m.  Nov.  16,  1842, 
Mary  Phelps,  b.  in  Westhampton,  Mass.,  Dec.  8,  1818. 

CHILDREN. 

Mary,  b.  July  5,  1S44;   d.  July  31,  1846. 

Martha  Elizabeth,  b.  Sept.  16,  1S47;  ">•  ^^'°-  '^>  1S69,  W.  B.  Dickerman,  banker,  of   66 
Broadway,  N.  Y. 
38.  Samntl,  b.  Aug.  5,  1S49. 


33 

3onatf)an'  Stotft,  (Nathaniel^  Nathaniel'  Nathaniel'  Samuel^  Thomas^  Thomas,^) 
of  Andover,  b.  July  25,  1816;  m.  Oct.  30,  1850,  Almena  Jacobs  of  Cherryfield, 
Maine;  b.  Jan.  6,  1831,  Columbia,  Me. 

CHILDREN. 

Elizabeth  Florence,  b.  Oct.  25,  1S60;  grad.  1881  at  the  Andover  Female  Academy. 
Kate  Adams,  b.  March  4,  1869. 


34 

Samncl' Stotft,  (Saw^rtf/,"  Nathaniel,^  Nathaniel,*  Samuel,^  Thomas^  Thomas,^)  of 
San   Francisco,  California;   b.  May  22,  1828;  m.  Nov.  24,  18 — ,  Emma  Newberry. 

CHILDREN. 

Mary  Hester,  b.  June  — ,  1866. 

Mr.  Swift  was  brought  up  on  a  farm  near  Princeton,  Illinois.  His  father's  inten- 
tion was  to  give  him  a  collegiate  education,  but  losing  his  fortune,  he  moved  to  Illinois 
at  an  early  day,  so  that  he  had  no  opportunity  for  an  education  except  what  he  got 
himself.  In  1852  he  went  to  California,  crossing  the  plains  with  a  party  of  nine  young 
men  from  Princeton  with  two  ox  teams ;  the  one  with  which  he  was  connected,  how- 
ever, had  three  yoke  of  oxen  and  one  yoke  of  cows,  which  afforded  them  milk  most  of 
the  way.     They  were  five  months  in  making  the  trip  from  Princeton,  111.,  to  Downs- 


48  GENEALOGY  OF  THE  FAMILY  OF 

ville,  Simon  Co.,  Cal.  On  reaching  the  sink  of  the  Humboldt  River  their  team  was  so 
diminished,  having  lost  two  oxen  and  one  cow,  that  they  could  not  attempt  to  cross 
the  fifty-mile  desert  that  there  was  open  before  them,  with  their  wagon,  as  the  rest 
of  their  team  was  insufficient  to  make  the  trip  over  the  desert,  and  then  over  the 
Sierra  Nevada  range  of  mountains,  so  they  sold  what  was  left  of  the  team,  and  used 
the  wagon  for  camp-fires  for  the  party,  and  having  given  and  thrown  away  every- 
thing else  that  was  portable,  except  what  provisions  they  could  carry  and  were 
necessary  to  last  them  for  the  remainder  of  the  journey,  they  started  next  morning 
early,  with  their  provisons  and  one  quart  of  water  to  each  man,  for  which  they  paid 
one  dollar  per  quart.  After  some  severe  hardships  they  reached  California,  not  hav- 
ing seen  a  house  or  other  habitation  of  any  white  man,  after  leaving  the  Missouri 
river,  except  Fort  Laramie  and  Fort  Hall,  where  some  United  States  troops  were 
stationed.  In  1857  he  made  atrip  up  Frazier  river  into  British  Columbia,  navigating 
that  river  in  a  small  boat  a  distance  of  two  hundred  and  fifty  miles,  with  an  Indian  for  a 
guide,  adding  another  chapter  to  his  frontier  life,  which  for  roughness  of  experience 
surpassed  anything  he  had  previously  gone  through,  being  constantly  surrounded  by 
dangers  to  life  in  various  ways.  In  1859  he  returned  to  California  and  received  a  letter 
from  his  father,  requesting  him  to  return  home,  as  he  was  quite  old  and  decrepit.  He 
did  so,  and  remained  in  Princeton,  111.,  until  1866,  during  which  time  his  father  and 
mother  both  died,  and  he  then  returned  again  to  California,  and  has  resided  the 
most  of  the  time  in  San  Francisco.  He  joined  the  Order  of  F.  and  A.  Masons  in 
California  in  1855,  in  Forest  Lodge,  No.  66,  Sierra  County ;  afterwards  joined  Bureau 
Lodge,  No.  112,  in  Princeton,  then  was  a  member  of  two  different  Lodges  in  San 
Francisco.  Is  now  a  member  of  Portland  Lodge,  No.  55,  Portland,  Oregon.  While 
in  Princeton  the  last  time  he  joined  Princeton  Chapter,  No.  28,  of  Royal  Arch  Ma- 
sons, also  Orion  Council,  No.  8,  Royal  and  Select  Masters  and  Temple  Commandcry, 
No.  20,  Knights  Templar.  He  is  now  a  member  of  San  Francisco  Chapter,  No.  i, 
Royal  Arch  Masons,  California  Council,  No.  i.  Royal  and  Select  Masters  and  Golden 
Gate  Commandery,  No.  16,  Knights  Templar,  San  Francisco.  When  leaving  San 
Francisco  in  1881  to  go  to  Montana,  he  was  Secretary  of  San  Francisco  Chapter,  and 
Recorder  of  Golden  Gate  Commandery,  Knights  Templar,  and  was  also  President  of 
the  Masonic  Veteran  Association  of  the  Pacific  Coast.  Mr.  Swift's  present  address 
is  1 1 12  East  Sixteenth  Street,  Oakland,  California. 


35 

HSillinm'  Stoift,  {Satnuel°  Nathaniel^  Nathaniel*  Samuel^  Thomas'  Thomas,^) 
of  Princeton,  Illinois,  b.  July  22,  1839;  m.  Nov.  6,  1865,  at  Fiskeleva,  111.,  to  Maria 
King. 


THOMAS  SWIFT  OF  DORCHESTER.  49 

CHILDREN. 

Ida  Wyatt,  b.  Feb.  7,  1867. 
Minnie  Belle,  b.  Sept.  22,  186S. 
Samuel  Jackson,  b.  Oct.  15,  1870. 
William  Sherman,  b.  Jan.  28,  1872. 

Mr.  Swift  was  a  volunteer  during  the  late  civil  war  in  the  93d  Illinois  Regiment. 


36 

lUSfniam  ^lugustus'  Sfnift,    {Samiielf    Samuel,^     Ebenezer*     Samuel,'     Thomas,^ 

Thomas')   b.  in  Roxbury  Oct.  18,  1811  ;   m.  June  15,  1836,  Anna  Young,  daughter 

of  Abigail  and  Barnabas  Atwood,  of  Brewster,  Mass.     She  was  b.   Aug.    12,    1811  ; 

d.   without  issue  January  3d,   1744.     Mr.  Swift  married  her  sister,  Mrs.  Thankful 

Maker,  April  loth,  1845.     She  was  b.  Sept.  11,  1815.     Mr.  Swift  is  a  builder  now 

residing  in  Roxbury. 

CHILDREN. 

Anna  Augusta,  b.  June  i,  1846. 

William,  b.  Oct.  31,  1849;  book-keeper  in  the  Maverick  National  Bank,  Boston;   m.  Feb.  22, 
1882,  Addie  W.  Jacobs. 


37 

EtintB'  Stoift,  {Samuel,^  Samuel,^  Ebenezer^  Samuel^  Thomas?  Thomas,^)  a 
pianoforte  maker  residing  at  255  Lybrand  Street,  Philadelphia;  b.  in  Roxbury  Jan. 
16,  1815  ;  m.  Nov.  6,  1844,  Maria  A.  Engelman,  b.  in  Philadelphia  Feb.  29,  1824. 

CHILDREN. 
Samuel,'  b.  Aug.  9,  1845;  d.  Aug.  7,  1858. 
Andrew,*  b.  Aug.  4,  1848;   d.  May  6,  1850. 
William,*  b.  May  29,  1S52;  m.  Sept.  15,  1875,  Fanny  M.  Umsted;  have  Lewis,^  b.  Feb.  13,  1879. 


38 

Br.  Samtitl'  Stnift,  (Samuel^  Nathaniel^'  Nathaniel,^  Samuel,^  Thomas^  Thomas,') 
b.  Aug.  5,  1849;  m.  April  21,  1875,  Lucy,  dau.  of  Judge  H.  E.  Davies  of  New 
York,  by  his  wife  Rebecca  Waldo  Tappan  of  Boston.  Dr.  Swift  is  a  physician  of 
Yonkers.  He  was  graduated  at  the  Yale  Scientific  School  in  1868;  also  at  the 
College  of  Physicians  and  Surgeons,  medical  department,  Columbia  College,  New 
York,  class  of  1872.     Was  mayor  of  Yonkers,  April  1882,  to  April  1884. 

CHILDREN. 
Martha,  b.  July  27,  187S. 


50  GENEALOGY  OF  THE  FAMILY  OF 

Note. — Up  to  this  point  in  the  genealogy,  the  descendants  of  Lieut.  Thomas'  Swift,  son  of  the  first 
Thomas',  have  been  followed  out.  The  descendants  of  his  brother  Obadiah^  will  now  be  continued  from  page  4, 
and  numbered  consecutively  after  the  posterity  of  Thomas'. 


©baliia]^,*  (Thomas^)  b.  in  Dorchester,  July    i6,   1638;    d.  Dec.  27,   1690;   m. 

March   15,  1660,  Rest,  (b.  ,  1639)  dau.  of  Maj.  Gen.  Humphrey  Atherton. 

In  a  deed  dated  July  i,  1664,  conveying  one  hundred  and  forty  acres  of  land  to 
Gyles  and  Edward  Payson,  he  and  Timothy  Mather  call  themselves  administrators 
of  their  father  in-law,  Maj.  Gen.  Humphrey  Atherton.  He  was  a  blacksmith  by 
trade,  and  in  1672  "Rece  an  hundred  of  Iron,  for  which  he  made  axes  and  bows  for 
Endian  gratuetie  by  Capt.  Foster's  order."  He  was  fence  viewer  in  1664,  and 
several  times  afterwards;  was  constable  in  1662,  and  supervisor  in  1674.  Savage 
gives  him  a  second  wife,  Abigail,  but  I  think  he  is  in  error,  and  that  she  was  the 
wife  of  his  son,  Obadiah,  Jr.  Rest  Swift  and  Obadiah  Swift  returned  the  inventory 
of  Obadiah's  estate  March  24,  1691-2.  A  Rest  Swift  died  Nov.  3,  1708,  who  was 
probably  his  widow. 

CHILDREN. 

Remember,  b.  5,  10  mo.,  1661;  d.  5,  12  mo.,  1661. 

Rest,  b.  13,  10  mo.,  1662. 

James,  b. 
39.    ©baSiab,  b.  28,  11  mo.,  1670. 

HoPESTiLL,  b.  March   II,  1674. 

Elizabeth,  b.  Sept.  7,  1675;  d.  Sept.  17,  1675. 

Abigail,  b.  Jan.  4,  1676;   m. Apply.     June   12,  1734,  James  Apply  of  Norwich,  Conn., 

in  a  deed,  calls  Sarah  Swift,  of  Dorchester,  spinster,  his  cousin  or  kinswoman,  he  being  the 
youngest  of  the  two  sons,  and  only  heir  of  .'\bigail  Apply,  of  Preston  County,  New  London, 
deceased,  daughter  of  Obadiah  Swift  of  Dorchester,  blacksmith.  He  deeds  to  said  Sarah  all 
his  rights  in  lands  in  Dorchester  and  Stoughton  which  belonged  to  their  grandfather,  Obadiah 
Swift,  deceased,  and  great-grandfather,  Maj.  liumphrey  /Vtherton. 

Elizabeth,  b.  Jan.  4,  1679;  d.  Nov.  2,  1683. 


39 

©faatiini),'  (Obadiah;'  Thomas^)  b.  in  Dorchester,  28,  11  mo.,  1670;  d.  Jan.  20, 
1747  ;  m.  Abigail  Blake,  last  day  of  December,  1695.  She  was  admitted  to  full  com- 
munion at  the  Dorchester  church,  Nov.  7,  1702-3,  and  d.  March  19,  1737-8.  He 
was  admitted  to  the  church  in  November,  1696.     He  was  a  blacksmith. 


THOMAS  SWIFT  OF  DORCHESTER.  5 1 

CHILDREN. 

40.    SatttES,  b.  Nov.  I,  1696. 

Susanna,  b.  July  14,  1701;   m.  Henry  Newell  of  Boston,  shipwright,  Nov.  22,  1722. 

Jane,  b.  Dec.  9,  1703;   m.  James  Young  Dec.  7,  1727. 

Priscilla.  b.  Oct.  3,  1706;  m.  Henry  Ledbetter  March  30,  1732,  eldest  son  of  Increase  Ledbetter. 

Sarah,  b.  ;  m.  James  Leeds  June  23,  1737. 

He  was  one  of  the  grantees  in  1737-8  of  a  right  in  the  new  township  of  Dor- 
chester, Canada,  incorporated  in  1765  as  Ashburnham,  derived  from  the  services  of 
his  brother  James,  who  was  killed  while  a  member  of  Capt.  Withington's  company 
of  Dorchester,  in  the  expedition  against  Quebec,  Canada,  in  1690. 


40 

JamcB,*  (Obadiah?  Obadiah^  Thomas^)  b.  in  Dorchester,  Nov.  i,  1696;  m. 
Silence,  dau.  of  Sherebiah  and  Silence  Butt,  April  9,  1718.  He  was  a  yeoman  of 
Dorchester. 

CHILDREN. 

^t.     Satnes.b.  June2l,  1719. 

Susanna,  b.  March  6,  1720-1;  m.  Joseph  Whiston  of  Boston,  Nov.  24,  1738. 

OBADlAH.b.  Jan.  31,  1723-4. 

Ezra,  b.  Oct.  23,  1726;  d.  Feb.  9,  1726-7  (grave  stone). 

Silence,  b.  Oct.  21,  1728;  m.  Desire  Hawes,  Oct.  6,  1748. 
^2.     EIijaf),b.  March  9,  1730-31. 

JOAB,  b.  March  29,  1733;   d.  May  16,  1745. 

Sherebiah,  b.  July  2,  1735. 

Abigail,  b.  Oct.  29,  173S;  m.  John  Purpoon,  Oct.  31,  1759. 

Ezra,  b.  Nov.  15,  1740. 

April  25,  1737,  James  Swift  and  wife  Silence;  Hopestill  and  Hannah  Blake; 
Abigail,  widow  of  John  Woodward,  husbandman ;  Mary  Butt,  spinster,  all  of  Dor- 
chester ;  Hannah,  Silence,  Abigail  and  Mary,  being  children  of  Silence  Butt,  deceased, 
late  wife  of  Sherebiah  Butt,  also  deceased ;  said  Silence  Butt  was  one  of  the  grand- 
children of  Henry  Merrifield,  of  Dorchester,  deceased.  They  sell  land  to  Benj'. 
Bird  of  Dorchester,  gentleman,  in  Dorchester  and  Stoughton,  which  belonged  to 
their  great-grandfather,  Henry  Merrifield. 


41 

'^^xtA'i'  (James ^  Obadiah,'  Obadiah,"-  Thomas\)  b.  June  21,  17 19;  m.  Mary 
Mayer  June  11,  1741.  He  was  admitted  to  the  New  North  Church,  Boston,  Feb. 
14,  1741-2.     He  was  a  shipwright. 


52  GENEALOGY  OF  THE  FAMILY   OF 

CHILDREN. 

43.  SsOTEB.bapt.  July  10,  1743. 

44.  Sfnrg,  bapt.  June  22,  1746. 

William,  bapt.  Nov.  20,  1748;  probably  d.  young. 

William,  bapt.  Aug.  12,  1750. 

Mary,  bapt.  Sept.  30,  1753;  d.  April  9,  1764  (grave  stone). 

Silence,  bapt.  Nov.  30,  1755;  probably  same  pub.  to  Paul  Ingerfield,  Dec.  29,  1773. 

Susannah,  bapt.  Dec.  24,  1758;  probably  same  pub.  to  Robert  Jones,  Aug.  28,  1785. 

Abigail,  bapt.  June  7,  1761. 


42 

ISltjaf),'  (James*  Obadiah'  Obadiah^  Thomas^)  b.  in  Dorchester,  March  9,  1730- 
31  ;  m.  Edee  Seward,  pub.  Nov.  24,  1757.  She  owned  the  covenant  July  2,  1758  ;  d. 
Oct.  12,  1795,  ae.  64  years.  He  was  a  shipwright,  living  in  Henchman's  Lane  in  1789. 
He  died  May  9,  1 803,  ae.  73  years.  Administration  on  his  estate  was  granted  to 
Jacob  Rhodes  of  Boston,  shipwright,  May  30,  1803.  Ebenezer  Rhodes,  printer,  and 
James  White  Burditt,  bookseller,  gave  bond.  Their  gravestones  are  still  standing 
in  Copp's  Hill  burying  ground,  with  those  of  some  of  their  children.  The  inventory 
of  the  estate  amounted  to  $2053,  of  which  $2000  was  house  and  land  in  Hench- 
man's Lane. 

CHILDREN. 

45.  Eltjat),  bapt.  Aug.  27,  1758. 

Elizabeth,  bapt.  Aug.  31,  1760;  m.  July  14,  1779,  Capt.  James  Hutchinson,  by  whom  she  had 
Hannah.  He  died,  and  she  next  married  David  Oliver,  a  mast  and  spar  maker  on  Oliver's 
Dock,  now  Battery  March  Street  and  Liberty  Square.  They  had  four  children:  i,  David 
Oliver,  m.  Susan  Parkman,  both  dead;  2,  Sally  Oliver,  m.  Wm.  Parkman,  who  d.  1809;  3, 
Harriet,  spinster;  4,  Edee,  spinster. 

Sarah,  bapt.  Dec.  12,  1762;  m.  May  23,  1779,  Capt.  Samuel  Makin,  of  Philadelphia,  who  d.  long 
since.  She  lived  to  be  94  years  old,  a  remarkable  woman,  in  the  full  enjoyment  of  all  her 
faculties.  Capt.  Makin  was  sailing  master  of  the  Queen  of  France,  a  government  vessel  in  the 
war  of  1812.  He  had  his  leg  broken  in  the  service  off  Boston  harbor,  was  landed  in  Boston, 
and  cared  for  till  well.  In  1836  or  '40  Mrs.  Makin  obtained  a  pension,  with  back  pay,  from 
the  government.  They  had  five  children,  now  dead,  whose  children  are  wealthy  citizens  of 
Philadelphia,  filling  honorable  positions. 

William,  bapt.  Sept.  16,  1764;  d.  April  i,  1765  (grave  stone). 

Mary,  bapt.  May  31,  1767;  d.  young. 

Mary,  bapt.  Sept.  4,  1768,  m.  first,  March  3,  1793,  Francis  Sloan;    had  one  son,  now  dead;  m. 

second, Avery,  had  one  dau.,  dead;   m.  third,  John  French,  had  three  children,  now 

dead.     She  d.  about  1846,  in  Boston. 

46.  iStnjamin,  bapt.  Aug.  19,  1770. 


43 

Jamea,'  (James,"   James*   Obadiah,'  Obadiah*   Thomas,^)    baptized   in   Boston, 


THOMAS  SWIFT  OF  DORCHESTER.  53 

July  10,  1743;   m.  Winifred  Davis  of  Charlestown,  Nov.  29,  1764.     She  owned  the 
covenant  at  the  New  North  Church,  Oct.  20,  1765. 

CHILDREN. 

William,  b.  Oct.  8,  1767. 
Sarah  Brigden,  b.  Sept.  ii,  1769. 
Elizabeth  Gillam,  b.  Feb.  28,  1771. 
James,  bapt.  Mar.  14,  J  773. 
WiNNiFRED,  bapt.  Dec.  15,  1776. 
John,  bapt  Nov.  7,  1779. 

Mrs.  Swift,  daughter  of  Barnabas  and  Winifred  (Brigden)  Davis,  of  Charlestown, 
■was  born  June  17,  1743.     For  ancestry  see  Wyman,  p.  281. 


44 

l^tnrg,'  (^James^  James^  Obadiahf  Obadiah^  Thomas,^)  b.  in  Boston,  June  22, 
1746;  m.  June  14,  1768,  Mary  Richardson.  She  owned  the  covenant  at  the  New 
North  Church  Nov.  6,  1767.     He  was  a  shipwright,  and  lived  in  Hull  Street. 

CHILDREN. 

Mary,    / 

Sarah,  bapt.  Dec.  16,  1770. 

Peggy  Richardson,  bapt.  March  21,  1773;  m.  Thomas  Adan,  Nov.  i,  1791,  and  had  John  R., 
Esq.;  Catherine  E.  R.  m.  Henry  S.  Waldo,  merchant. 

Perhaps  he  is  the  same  Henry  Swift  who  died  November,  1789,  ae.  44. 


45 

lEUjal),"  {Elijah,"  jfames,^  Obadiah'  Obadiah^  Thomas,^)  b.  in  Boston,  Aug.  27, 
1758;  m.  April  22,  1781,  Nancy  Brown.  She  owned  the  covenant  at  the  New 
North  Church  Dec.  30,  1781.  They  lived  in  Lynn  Street.  He  was  a  shipwright 
and  died  before  Feb.  13,  1804,  when  Henry  Swift,  baker,  of  Boston,  was  chosen 
guardian  of  his  children,  viz:  Elijah  and  Benjamin,  more  than  14;  Elizabeth 
George,  Thomas,  Catherine,  under  14.     Children  baptized  at  the  New  North  Church. 

CHILDREN. 

Nancy  Lapis,  bapt.  Jan.  27,  1782;  probably  d.  young. 

Elijah,  bapt.  Nov.  30,  1783. 

William,  bapt.  Sept.  25,  1785;  probably  d.  young. 

Benjamin,  bapt.  Sept.  2,  1787. 

Elizabeth  Hudson,  bapt.  Oct.  25,  1789. 


54  GENEALOGY  OF  THE  FAMILY  OF 

George  W.,  bapt.  Feb.  12,  1792;  in  1813  a  baker,  and  same  year  sells  property  in  Lynn  Street^ 

that  belonged  to  his  father. 
Katy  Richardson,  bapt.  Nov.  9,  1794;  schoolmistress  in  1821,  when  she  sells  her  right  in  her 

father's  estate. 
Thomas,  '  ;     was  of  Hancock,  N.  H.,  Feb.  4,  1823,  when  he  sells  his  right  in  his 

father's  estate. 


46 

Btnjamin,"  {Elijah^  Javies*  Obadiah^  Obadiah,^  Thomas^)  shipmaster  of  Bos- 
ton; commanded  the  ship  Hazard  in  1805,  owned  by  Thomas  H.Perkins.  With 
wife  Hannah  was  Hving  in  Charlestown  in  1827.  He  was  b.  in  Boston,  Aug.  19, 
1770;  m.  Hannah  Rhoades,  Aug.  6,  1796;  merchant  in  1831.  She  was  b.  Nov.  17, 
1777;  dau.  of  Jacob  Rhoades;  d.  Nov.  28,  1831.  He  d.  March  15,  1858.  He 
removed  to  Pepperill.     Children  baptized  in  Boston  in  181 1. 

CHILDREN. 

Eliza  Rhoades,  b.  April  14,  1797;  d.  Oct.  2,  1829;   m.  April  30,  1821,  Abraham  Andrews. 

Benjamin,  b.  March  31,  1800;  d.  Oct.  2,  1801. 

Hannah,  b.  Jan.  26,   1803;  d.  Aug.  27,   1852;    m.  Oct.  17,   1826,  Thomas  M.  Thompson   of 

Charlestown,  d.  June  27,  1836.     Hardware  dealer  of  Boston. 
Caroline,  b.  April  26,  1806;  d.  June  8,  1806. 
Caroline,  b.  March  29,  1807;   m.  Nov.   14,   1S30,  Abraham  Andrews,  of  Charlestown.     He  d. 

March  7,  1S69. 
Benjamin,  b.  July  11,  1810;  d.  Aug.  10,  1S83. 
Sarah  Stevens,  b.  Sept  9,  1812;  d.  Nov.  16,  1866. 

Mary  Burdeti,  b.  June  21,  1814;  m  John  Farrar,  Oct.  20,  1841.     He  d.  Feb.  6,  1849. 
Susan,  b.  March  27,  1816. 
Abhy,  b.  Jan.  30,  1818;   d.  Aug.  24,  1862. 
Ellen  Louisa,  b.  Oct.  13,  1820.  , 

William  Henry,  b.  July  25,  1822. 

Capt.  Swift  was  an  active  and  prominent  member  of  the  Harvard  Church, 
Charlestown,  and  furnished  the  lower  row  of  windows  in  the  auditory  with  "India 
blinds  "  at  his  own  charge.     His  pew  was  No.  33,  and  he  owned  pew  No.  14. 


47 


J^tnrg,'  {He7try'  James,''  y antes*  Obadiah^  Obadiah^  Thomas')  b.  in  Boston, 
Sept.  7,  1768;  m.  Nov.  18,  1790,  Sarah  Brown,  b.  May  2,  1766;  d.  July  28,  1799. 
He  next  m.  May  4,  1800,  Agnes,  dau.  of  William  McKcan,  sister  of  Prof  Joseph 
McKean  of  Plarvard  College.     She  was  b.  Jan.  13,  1766. 

He  was  engaged  in  the  bakery  business,  corner  of  Charter  and  Unity  Streets,  at 
the  north  end.      lie  d.   Ajiril   3,    1808.     The  inventory  of   his  estate  amounted  to 


THOMAS  SWIFT  OF  DORCHESTER.  55 

upwards  of  ten  thousand  dollars,  but  it  proved  insolvent.  His  widow  possessed 
property  in  her  own  right,  and  bought  in  the  estate,  corner  of  Charter  and  Unity 
Streets,  which  is  still  owned  by  his  descendants. 

CHILDREN. 

Henry,  b.  Jan  i,  1792;   d.  Oct.  11,  1793. 
hi.    I^cnrg,  b.July  5,  1793. 

William,  b.  Sept.  3,  1797;   d.  Oct  14,  1798. 

Sarah,  b.  Feb.  7,  1801. 

William  Joseph,  b.  Jan.  29,  1S04;   d.  Oct  ir,  1807. 
^9.    3Dl)n  3amcs,  b.  April  16,  1S05. 

William  Joseph,  b.  Oct.  19,  1S07;  drowned  March  16,  1824,  on  his  passage  from  Gbttenburg,  as 
second  mate  of  ship  Galena. 


48 

l^enrg,*  {Henry'  Henry,''  James,'  James'  Obadiah^  Obadiah,i  Thomas,'^)  b.  July 
5.  1793.  in  Boston;  d.  March  13,  1862.  He  removed  early  in  life  to  Nantucket, 
where  he  was  established  in  the  hardware  business.  He  was  one  of  the  original 
members  of  the  New  England  Guards.  He  m.  June  5,  1817,  Mary,  dau.  of  Zenas 
and  Abial  Coffin,  one  of  the  wealthiest  merchants  and  largest  ship-owners  of  that 
place.  Mrs.  Swift  was  b.  Feb.  15,  1799;  d.  July  2,  1827.  He  m.  second,  Elizabeth 
dau.  of  Benjamin  and  Judith  Glover.     She  d.  Feb.  22,  1872. 

CHILDREN. 

Sarah  Brown,  b.  March  25,  1820;  d.  July  11,  1825. 

Mary  Coffin,  b.  March  24,  :822;  m.  Dec.  5,  1838,  Lewis  W.  Tappan,  son  of  John  Tappan,  of 

Boston.     Their  son,  Lewis  Wm.,  Jr.,  b.  Feb.   16,    1840,  m.  Olivia  Buckminster,  dau.   of  the 

Rev.  Samuel  K.  Lothrop  of  Boston.     She  d.  1878,  leaving  one  daughter,  b.  Sept.  i,  1876. 
Child,  b.  and  d.  Sept.  i,  1824. 

Sarah  Brown,  b.  Feb.  23,  1826;   lives  with  Mrs.  Tappan. 
Henry,  b.  Dec.   11,   1832;   ni.  Emma   Potter  of  Concord,  N.  H.,  and  has  Harry,  Frank,  Maud. 

Residence,  Durham  Park,  Marion  Co.,  Kansas. 
William  Joseph,  b.  May  27,  1835,  in  Nantucket;  m.  Oct.   20,  185S,  Anna  C.  Stearns,  dau.  of 

Marshall  Stearns  of   Brookline,    Mass.,  and   has   Susan  Stearns,   b.  Jan.    12,    1867;   Henry 

Marshall,  b.  Feb.  16,  1872. 
Margaret,    b.    March   10,    1838;  d.    March   18,   1869;    m.  Oct.         1858,  William  Stearns,  of 

Brookline,  Mass. 


49 

Safjn  3anus,"  {Henry ^  Henry'  James'  James,'  Obadiah^  Obadiah,'  Thomas^) 
b.  April  16,  1805  ;  m.  Mary,  dau.  of  Samuel  Hitchborn  of  Boston.  Mr.  Swift  was 
a  merchant  of  Boston.     He  was  a  clerk  in  1823  with  Bradshaw  &  Parker,  on  Long 


56  GENEALOGY  OF  THE  FAMILY  OF 

Wharf;   from  1829  to  1840  was  of  the  firm  of  Parker  &  Swift;  then  from   1840  to 
1844,  J.  J.  Swift  &  Co.     He  was  successful,  and  accumulated  a  fortune. 

CHILDREN. 

Agnes  McKean. 

Eliza  T. 

Mary,  b.  ;  m.  J.  H.  Lombard. 

Amy. 

W.  H. 

Frances,  b.  ;  m.  Edward  Holbrook. 

Lillian  Alice. 

Mr.  Swift  early  manifested  a  lively  interest  in  the  extension  of  the  railway  system 
of  the  country,  and  upon  retiring  from  active  mercantile  pursuits  in  1854,  was 
elected  a  director  in  the  Fitchburg  Railroad  Company,  and  on  Feb.  8,  1855,  was 
chosen  its  President,  which  office  he  held  till  August  17,  1864,  when  he  voluntarily 
retired  from  the  board,  but  continued  to  be  consulted  by  the  management  upon  all 
matters  of  importance  during  the  remainder  of  his  life. 

Having  now  no  active  business  to  occupy  his  mind,  and  being  an  energetic  and 
public-spirited  man,  he  must  needs  turn  his  attention  to  some  beneficent  enterprise. 
In  1865  and  1866  he  took  a  leading  interest  in  the  establishment  of  the  National 
Steamship  Company,  in  the  interest  of  Boston,  and  for  which  company  the  Erie  and 
Ontario  were  built,  but  from  lack  of  adequate  support,  and  from  the  unstable  condi- 
ton  of  the  times,  the  scheme  was  abandoned,  and  the  pioneer  vessels  sold  and  taken 
from  that  port. 

In  1869  he  took  an  active  interest  in  the  Caughnawaga  Ship  Canal,  a  project  for 
uniting  the  St.  Lawrence  River  with  Lake  Champlain,  thereby  uniting  the  commerce 
of  the  great  lakes  with  New  England,  and  with  others  secured  a  charter  from  the 
Dominion  Parliament,  and  kept  it  alive  by  subsequent  legislation  for  several  years, 
but  from  the  lack  of  general  interest  in  Boston,  which  was  mainly  relied  upon  for 
the  means  of  construction,  this  great  internal  improvement  was  given  up. 


APPENDIX. 

ENGLISH    ANCESTRY. 


Since  that  portion  of  the  genealogy  was  printed  which  relates  to  Thomas  Swift 
and  his  wife  Elizabeth,  the  founders  of  the  Dorchester  family  in  America,  some 
investigations  have  been  made  in  England  with  a  certain  degree  of  success.  Their 
marriage  has  been  found  on  the  parish  register  of  the  Church  of  the  Holy  Trinity, 
Dorchester,  England  ;  but  nothing  there  indicates  that  Thomas  Swift  was  born  in 
Dorchester,  or  that  the  name  existed  there  previous  to  the  date  of  his  marriage. 
It  is  possible  that  he  was  born  in  an  adjoining  parish  or  county,  and  that,  being 
imbued  with  the  religious  fervor  of  the  time,  had  gathered  there  with  others,  pre- 
paratory to  embarking  for  the  New  World. 

Savage  says,  that  Thomas  Swift  of  Dorchester  was  the  son  of  Robert  of  Rother- 
ham,  Yorkshire.  I  am  inclined  to  think  that  this  statement  is  not  based  on  any 
more  substantial  evidence  than  family  tradition.  Such  a  tradition  has  existed  in 
the  family.  It  is  well-known  that  the  handing  down  of  christian  names  common 
to  families  was  very  strictly  followed,  but  in  no  instance  do  we  find  the  name  of 
Robert,  among  the  children  or  grandchildren  of  Thomas,  and  in  fact,  I  think  the 
name  has  never  been  borne  by  any  of  his  descendants. 

But  Savage's  conjectures  as  to  the  parentage  of  Elizabeth,  wife  of  Thomas  Swift, 
have  proved  to  be  right.  He  says,  she  was  probably  the  daughter  of  Bernard 
Capen,  who  was  from  Dorchester,  England.  Thomas  Swift,  in  his  will,  calls  John 
Capen,  who  was  son  of  Bernard,  his  brother-in-law,  and  John  Capen  in  a  letter  to 
Mary  Bass,  printed  in  the  History  of  Dorchester,  Mass.,  p.  45,  speaks  of  his  sister 
Swift  and  sister  Upsall. 

With  this  clew,  it  seemed  to  me  that  an  examination  of  the  parish  registers  of 
Dorchester,  England,  might  disclose  something  in  relation  to  Thomas  and  Elizabeth 
Swift.     Accordingly   a   search  was   made,    and   on   the   parish   register   of   Holy 


58  APPENDIX— ENGLISH  ANCESTRY. 

Trinity  was  found  the  entry,  that  "  Thomas  Svvifte  and  Elizabeth  Capen  were 
married  i8  Oct.,  1630,"  and  "20  Nov.,  163 1,  Joane,  daughter  of  Thomas  Swifte, 
was  baptized."  These  two  are  the  only  instances  of  the  appearance  of  the  name 
on  the  register. 

The  next  child  we  find  to  them  recorded  is  on  the  Dorchester  records  in 
America,  when,  June  17,  1635,  the  birth  of  their  son  Thomas  appears.  It  is 
possible  that  other  children  were  born,  between  these  two  periods,  who  died 
young. 

The  same  parish  register,  records  the  marriage  of  Nicholas  Upsale  and  Dorothie 
Capen,  17  Jan.,  1629.  Nicholas  Upsale  is  well  known,  as  one  of  those  who  was 
persecuted  as  a  Quaker.  An  account  of  him  has  been  printed  in  the  New  England 
Historical  and  Genealogical  Register,  vol.  XXXIV.,  p.  21. 

A  William  Rockwell  and  Susan  Capen,  were  married  14  April,  1624, 
doubtless  the  same  person,  who  with  his  wife  Susanna,  appear  in  Dorchester,  Mass., 
in  1630,  when  he  was  made  freeman.  He  was  one  of  the  first  deacons  of  the 
Dorchester  Church  and  the  history  of  that  town,  p.  79,  gives  the  name  of  his  wife 
as  Susanna  Chapin,  doubtless  mistaken  for  Capen.  Probably  she  was  another 
daughter  of  Bernard  Capen,  for  according  to  the  family  Bible,  he  had  a  child  of 
this  name. 

There  are  four  parish  churches  at  Dorchester,  England,  all  of  about  the  same 
date,  but  none  possess  registers  earlier  than  about  1663-4,  except  Holy  Trinity, 
whose  register  commences  as  early  as  1 5  59.  Its  covers  are  gone,  but  the  entries  are 
perfectly  legible.  A  great  many  Capens  appear  on  it  between  1559  and  1652, 
some  of  which  are  here  appended.  The  name  on  the  registers  seems  to  have 
finally  resolved  itself  into  Galpin.  For  an  account  of  the  Capen  family,  see  vol.  II., 
p.  80,  and  vol.  XX.,  p.  246,  of  the  New  England  Historical  and  Genealogical 
Register. 


DORCHESTER. 

Extracts  from  tJie  Church  Registers  of  Holy  Trinity, 
Commencing  1559. 


14  April,  1624. 

4  Aug.,  1629. 

17  Jan.,  1629. 

18  Oct.,  1630. 


23 

Feb., 

1633- 

29 

April, 

1632. 

12 

July, 

1635- 

.s 

Nov., 

1637- 

8 

Nov., 

1640. 

I 

Jan., 

1642. 

8 

Sept., 

1628. 

28 

May, 

1632. 

3 

March, 

1633- 

6 

Jan., 

1642. 

22 

April, 

1643. 

26 

March, 

1646. 

10 

April, 

1646. 

20 

April, 

1646. 

27 

April, 

1646. 

6 

May, 

1646. 

Wm.  Rockwell  and  Susan  Capon, Married 

Robert  Gifford  and  Hannah  Capon " 

Nicholas  Upsale  and  Dorothie  Capen, 

Thomas  Swifte  and  Elizabeth  Capen, " 

Elizabeth,  daughter  of  Thomas  Capen Baptized 

Ruth,  daughter  of  Bernard  Capen, " 

Barnard,  son  of  Bernard  Capen, 

William,  son  of  Bernard  Capen, 

Mary,  daughter  of  Bernard  Capen, " 

John,  son  of  Bernard  Capen, 

James  Capen,      Buried 

Margaret,  wife  of  Thomas  Capen, 

Elizabeth,  daughter  of  Thomas  Capen " 

John,  son  of  Barnard  Gapen, 

William,  son  of  Thomas  Gapen, 

Ruth,  daughter  of  Barnard  Galpen, 

Elizabeth,  daughter  of  Barnard  Galpen, 

Barnard,  son  of  Barnard  Galpen, 

Mary,  daughter  of  Barnard  Galpen, 

William,  son  of  Barnard  Galpen, 

To  1652. 


INDEX  TO  THE  GENEALOGY. 


PAGE. 

Abbott,  Timothy 37 

Abbott,  Sarah,  m.  Nathaniel  Swift 37 

Abert,  Col 37 

Acton,  Laura 24 

Adams,  Abigail,  m.  Rev.  John  Swift 14.  '5 

Adams,  Daniel 15 

Adams,  DeUa 24 

Adams,  Delia  W.,m.  Edward  B.White  .    ...  24 

Adams,    EU 27 

Adams,  EU,  m.  Sarah  D.  Swift 24 

Adams,  James 24 

Adams,  Jeremiah 14 

Adams,  John • 21 

Adams,  John,   m.  Sarah   Swift 17 

Adams,  Julius  W.,  m.  Elizabeth  Denison  ...  24 

Adams,  Louisa 26 

Adams,  Mary,  m.,  James  P.  Kirkwood  ....  24 

Adams,  Rebecca 14 

Adams,  Sally  D 26 

Adams,  Samuel 21 

Adams,  Sarah 19 

Adan,  Catherine  E.  R.,  m.  Henry  S.  Waldo  .    .  53 

Adan,  Thomas,  m.  Teggy  R.  Swift 53 

.\ddington  J 8 

Andrews,  Abraham,  m.  Caroline  Swift   ....  54 

.\ndrews,  Abraham,  m.  Ehza  R.  Swift   ....  54 

Allen,  Daniel 9 

Allen,  Elizabeth,  m.  John  Hancock  Foster    .    .  20 

Allen,   Sarah,  m.  Capt.  Hopestill   Foster  ...  20 

Allison,  Henry,  m.  Mary  E.  Swift 27 

Apply,  Abigail 5° 

Apply,  James 50 

Apply, ,  m.   Abigail   Swift 50 

Atherton,   Humphrey 50 

.\therton,  Rest,  m.  Obadiah  Swift 50 

Atwood,  Anna  T.,  m.  William  A.  Swift  ....  49 

Avery  ,  m.   Mary  Sloan 52 

Avery,  Mary,  m.  John    French 52 

Babcock,  Elizabeth,  m.   John   Swift 28 

Babcock,  Samuel,   m.  Elizabeth    Swift  ....  23 

Babcock,  William 28 

Baker,  E.   J 3° 

Baker,  John,   m.  EUphal  Swift 23 


PAGE, 

Baker,  John,  m.   Joan    Swift 4 

Baker,  John,  m.  Thankful   Foster 4 

Baker,  Mary,  m.  Nathaniel   Swift 28 

Ballard,   Stephen 14 

Barnabas,    Atwood 49 

Bartlett,   William,  m.   Susannah    Swift  ....  23 

Bass,    Mary 4,57 

Bate,   James 20 

Bate,  Mary,   m.  Hopestill   Foster 20 

Bayley,  Thomas 22 

Bennett,  Joseph,  m.  Mary  Swift 23 

Bent,  Eunice 30 

Berry,  Samuel,  m.  Ann   Swift 23 

Bird,  Benj 51 

Blake,  Abigail,  m.  Obadiah   Swift 50 

Blake,    Hannah 28,  5 1 

Blake,  Hopestill 51 

Blake,  James 19 

Blake,  Ruth 19 

Blake,   Samuel 19 

Breck,    Robert 11 

Brigden,  Winifred 53 

Broughton,   Hannah 5 

Broughton,    Sarah 5 

Brown,  John 16 

Brown,  Hannah,  m.  Luther    Swift 15 

Brown,  Nancy,  m.  Elijah  Swift 53 

Brown,  Sarah,  m.  Henry  Swift 54 

Bryant,  Mrs 20 

Buckminster,  Joseph 14 

Burditt,  James  W 52 

Burt,  Col.,  m.  Mary  Swift 20 

Burt,  Jed.,  m.  Elizabeth  Newhall 20 

Butt,  Sherebiah 5  ■ 

Butt,  Silence,  m.  James  Swift 51 

Byles,  Mr 20 

Capen,  Bernard 4.  57.  59 

Capen,  EUzabeth 59 

Capen,  Elizabeth,  ra.  Thomas  Swift      ....  58 

Capen,  Dorothy,  m.   Nicholas   Upsale  ....  58 

Capen,  Hannah,  m.  Robert  Gifford 59 

Capen,  John 4,  6,  57,  59 

Capen,  Margaret 59 


INDEX    TO    THE    GENEALOGY. 


PAGE. 

Capen,  Mary 59 

Capen,  Ruth 59 

Capen,  Susan,  m.  William  Rockwell 5S-9 

Capen,  Thomas 59 

Capen,  William 59 

Carbonnel,  A.  B.,  m.  Mary  J.  Swift 40 

Carr,  Joshua  W.,  m.  Lucy  W.  Swift 16 

Carter,  A.,  m.  Sarah  F.  Trow 38 

Chapman,  Moses  C,  m.  Mary  Swift 41 

Cheney,  PoUey,   m.  Samuel   Swift 41 

Cheney,  Thomas 4' 

Chew,  Abby  H.,  m.  McRee  Swift 42 

Chew,  Thomas  John 42 

Church,  Deborah 24 

Clap,  Ebenezer 9 

Clapp,   Ezra 8 

Clapp,   Hopestill,  m.   Susanna  Swift 5 

Clapp,  Judith,  m.   Ebenezer  Swift 23 

Clapp,  Nehemiah 23 

Clapp,  Roger "  7>  ^ 

Clapp,  Sarah,  m.  Thomas  Swift 7 

Coffin,  Mary,  m.  Henry  Swift 55 

Coffin,  Zenas 55 

Coit,  Jonathan 26 

Crane,  Henry,  m.  Judith  Swift 23 

Crane,    Stephen 7 

Crehore,  Elizabeth,  m.  Thomas  Swift 17 

Cullum,  Geo.  W 33.  34 

Cunningham 26 

Cushman,  EUzabeth 24 

Cutter,  James  B.,  m.  Catharine   S.  Trow  ...  38 

Dalton,  Edward  B 44 

Danforth,  Mr 8 

Daniel,  John 9 

Davies,   Lucy,  m.  Samuel  Swift 49 

Davies,  H.  E 49 

Davis,   Barnabas 53 

Davis,  Catharine,  m.  Dr.  John   Swift 15 

Davis,  Deacon 25 

Davis,  Winifred,  m.  James  Swift 52,  53 

Delano,  pedigree 23,  24 

Delano,   Deborah 24 

Delano,  Dorah,  m.  Foster  Swift      23 

Delano,  Elizabeth 23 

Delano,  Ephraim 24 

Delano,  Franklin  H 24 

Delano,  Gideon 24 

Delano,  Jabez 24 

Delano,  Jean 24 

Delano,  Jethro 24 

Delano,  Jonathan 24 

Delano,  Mary 24 

Delano,  Nathaniel 24 


PAGE. 

Delano,  Philip 24 

Delano,  Thomas 23,  24 

Delano,    Warren 24 

Dennison,  EUzabeth,  m.  Julius  W.  Adams  ...  24 

De  Rosset,  pedigree 32 

De  Rosset,  Gabriella 32 

Dewsbury,    Hester 24 

Dickerman,  W.  B.,  m.   Martha  E.  Swift  ...  47 

Draper,   W.  H 45 

Dubois,   pedigree 32 

Dubois,  Magdalene  M 32 

Dubois,  Rev.  Walter 32 

Ducatel,  ,  m.  George  W.  Whistler  ...  25 

Durfee,  , 24 

Durham,  Samuel,  m.  Elizabeth  Read 5 

Durram,   John 5 

Durram  Elizabeth 5 

Dutton,  E.  F 26 

Eliot,  Mr 8 

Ellery,  Mrs.   Harrison 5 

Engleman,   Maria  A.,  m.  Lewis   Swift  ....  49 

Farrar,  John,  m.  Martha  Swift 10 

Farrar,  John,  m.  Mary  B.  Swift 54 

Farrar,  Martha 13 

Farrar,  Mary 14 

Ferry,  Reuben,  m.  Abigail  Swift 23 

Field,  Joseph 22 

Fisk,    Abel 15 

Fitch,    Sally 24 

Fitzhugh,  Alida  C,  m.  Foster  Swift 43 

Fitzhugh,  D.  H 43 

Fitzhugh,  Isabella,   m.  Jonathan   Swift  ....  42 

Fitzhugh,  William 42 

Folger,  Peter 24 

Foster,  pedigree 20 

Foster,  Ann,  m.  Samuel  Swift 20 

Foster,  Capt 50 

Foster,  David  W 20 

Foster,    Hopestill 4 

Foster,  Hopestill,  m.  Mary  Bate 20 

Foster,  Hopestill,  m.  Patience 20 

Foster,  Hopestill,  Capt.,  m.  Sarah  Allen   ...  20 

Foster,  Hopestill,  m.  Susannah  Wood    ....  20 

Foster,  James,  m.  Anna  Lane 20 

Foster,  Jane 4' 

Foster,  John  Hancock,   m.  Elizabeth  .Mien.    .  20 

Foster,  Moses,  m.   Caroline   Hall 37 

Foster,  Thankful,  m.  John  Baker 4 

Foye,  Mr iS 

Franchemont  de,   Arnulph 23 

French, ,  m.   Abigail   Swift 16 

French,  John,  m.  Mary  Avery 52 

Frothingham,  Rev.  Fred 3° 


INDEX    TO    THE    GENEALOGY. 


PAGE. 

Gage,  Gov 22 

Gardner,  Joseph 25 

Girard,  Stephen 40 

Glover,  Benjamin 55 

Glover,  Elizabeth,  m.  Henry  Swift 55 

Glover,   Eira 4 

Glover,  John  J 4 

Goodhue  &  Co 40 

Gookin,  Major 8 

Greenough,  William,  m.  1st,  Ruth  Swift  ....  5 

Greenough,  William,  m.  2d,  Elizabeth  Rainsford,  5 

Greenough,  William,  m.  3d,  Sarah  Shore  ...  5 

Greenwood,  Sally,  m.  Ebenezer  Swift 31 

Gulliver,  Jonathan 7 

Golifor,  Anthony 3 

Gridley,   Counsellor 21 

Griffith,   Joseph   M 42 

Griffith,  Mabel  B.,  ra.  Lawrence  C.  Swift  ...  42 

Hale,  Wm.  F.,  m.  Lizzie   F.  Swift 16 

Hall,  Caroline,  m.  Moses  Foster 37 

Hall,  Rev.  Jeffries,  m.  Sarah  F.  Abbott  ....  37 

Hall,  Richard 3 

Hall,  Sarah   Frances,  m.  J.  C.  W.   Moore  ...  37 

Hamilton,  John 34 

Handheld,  Capt 21 

Harper,  Edward 27 

Harper,  Mary  D.,  m.  Wm.    R.  Swift 27 

Hassler,  Prof 36 

Hawes,  Desire,  m.    .Silence  Swift 51 

Hayden,  Seymour,  m.  Deborah  D.  Whistler  .    .  25 

Hearsey, , 26 

Hearsey,  Anna 19 

Hersey,  Solomon,  m.   Anna    Swift 17 

Henshaw,  Samuel,  m.  Sarah  Swift 23 

Henshaw,  Samuel 23 

Henshaw,  Waitstill 23 

Highinbottom,  m.  Anna  Read 5 

Hitchborn,  Mary.  m.  John  J.   Swift 55 

Hitchborn,    Samuel 55 

Holbvook,  Edward,  m.  Frances  Swift 56 

Hollis,  Thomas 31 

Holman,  Ann,  m.  Samuel  Swift 17 

Holman,  John 3 

Holman,  Thomas 3>  17 

Houghton,  Ebenezer 18 

Houghton,  Nathaniel iS 

How,  Josiah 23 

Howard,  Hannah  W.,  m.  WiUiam  H.  Swift  .    .  34 

Howard,  John 34,  45 

Howard,  Margaret,   m.  Charles  W.  Swift  ...  45 

Howland,  Elizabeth 24 

Hughes,  .Sarah 5 

Huntington      1,7, 


PAGE. 

Hutchinson,  Elizabeth,  m.  David   Oliver  ...  52 

Hutchinson,    Gov 41 

Hutchinson.  James,  m.  Elizabeth  Swift  ....  52 

Ingerfield,  Paul,  m.  Silence  Swift 52 

Ironside,  George,  m.  Mary  Swift 34 

Jacobs,  Addie  W.,  m.  William  Swift 49 

Jacobs,  Almena,  m.  Nathaniel  Swift 46 

Jacobs,  Almena,  m.  Jonathan  Swift 47 

Jacobs,  Marie  A.,  m.  William  J.  Swift     ....  39 

Jacobs,  S.  J 39 

Janeway,  Geo.  H.,  m.  Elizabeth  C.  Swift  ...  42 

Jarvis 33 

Jephson,  Mary  F.,  m.  James  F.  Swift 32 

Jewet,    N 8 

Jones,  Robert,  m.  Susannah   Swift 52 

Kent,  Judge 43 

Kenons 32 

Kidder,  Francis 46 

Kidder,  Martha  Jane,  m.  Nathaniel  Swift  ...  46 

King,  Maria,  m.  William  Swift 48 

King,  Martha,  m.   Edward  White 5 

Kirkwood,  James  P.,  m.  Mary  Adams  ....  24 

Kneeland,  Samuel 10 

Lane,  Anna,  m.  James  Foster 20 

Lane,  Job, 20 

Larrabee,  Capt 20 

Law,  Lyman 26 

Leach,  Mary 16 

Ledbetter,  Increase 51 

Ledbetter,  Henry,  m.  Priscilla  Swift 51 

Lee,  Rev.  Joseph 14 

Leeds,  James,  m.  Sarah   Swift 51 

Leeds,  Joseph 18 

Little,  Charles   F.,  m.  Charlotte    Swift  ....  40 

Lombard,  J.  H.,  m.  Mary  .Swift 56 

Long,  Major 36 

Lothrop,  Olivia  B.,  m.  Lewis   W.  Tappan,  Jr.  .  55 

Lothrop,  Samuel  K 55 

Lovering,  John,  m.  Lucretia  Swift 20 

Lyman,  Catherine 24 

Maker,  Thankful,  m.  William  A.  Swift  ....  49 

Makin,  Samuel,  m.  Sarah  Swift 52 

Manners,  Lord  Robert 25 

Martin,  John   W.,  m.  Ann  E.  Swift 42 

Martyn,  Edward,  m.  Sarah   White 5 

Martyn  Michael 5 

Mather,  Timothy 50 

May,  Col 21 

May,  Mr 27 

Mayer,  Mary,  m.  James  Swift 51 

McKean,  Agnes,   m.  Henry  Swift 54 

McKean,  Joseph 54 

McKean,  William 54 


w. 


INDEX    TO    THE    GENEALOGY. 


PAGE. 

McNeill,  Daniel 25 

Miller,  Col 18 

Miller,  Mary 5 

Mills,  Edward 10 

Merrifield,  Henry 3,  6,  5 1 

Monroe,  President 21 

Montague,    Mary 38 

Moore,  J.  C.  W.,  m.  Sarah  F.  Hall 37 

Morrison,  Rev.  John  H 30 

Munn,  Cora,  m.  J.  F.  Trow 38 

Munning,  Goodman 3 

Nash,  Ann 24 

Newberry,  Emma,  m.  Samuel  Swift 47 

Newell,  Daniel,  m.  Patience  Swift 23 

Newell,  Henry,  m.  Susanna   Swift 51 

Newhall,  Elizabeth,  m.  Col.  Jed'h  Burt  ....  20 

Newhall,  John,  m.  Elizabeth  Swift 20 

Newton,    Ephraim 9 

Newton,  John iS 

Nichols,  Henry  O.,  m.  Harriet  Swift 40 

Oliver,  David,  m.  Elizabeth  Hutchinson     ...  52 

Oliver,  David,  m.  Susan  Parkman 52 

Oliver,  Sally,  m.  William    Parkman 52 

Owens       32 

Parker,  Elizabeth,  m.  John  Swift 41 

Parker,  Elizabeth   Hovey 41 

Parker,  Gideon 41 

Parker,  Willard 44 

Parkman,  Susan,  ra.  David  Oliver 52 

Parkman,  William,  m.  Sally   Oliver 52 

Patten,    Mrs 27 

Patten,  Jonathan  T.,  m.  Ann  Swift 27 

Payson,  Anne 13 

Payson,  Rev.  Edward 10 

Payson,  Edward 50 

Payson,  Giles, 50 

Payson,  Rev.  Phillips 10,  13 

Payson,  Rev.  Phillips,  m.  Anne  Swift 10 

Payson,  Rev.  Samuel 10 

Payson,  Rev.  Seth 10 

Peckham,  Jane 24 

Peipcr,  Hugo,  m.  Martha  E.  Trow 38 

Perry,  Oliver  H 46 

Phelps,   Luke 38 

Phelps,  Martha   E.   m.  William   Swift    ....  38 

Phelps,  Mary,  ni.  Samuel    Swift 47 

Pierce,  Abigail,  m.  Samuel  Swift 30 

Pierce,  John 22 

Pierce,  Rev.  John 30 

Pierce,  William 30 

Pierce,  William,  m.  Lydia  Swift 23 

Pike,  William 14 

Pope,  Elizabeth 24 


PACE. 

Pope,  Ebenezer 2r 

Porter,  E.  P.,  m.  Judith  Rogers 28 

Potter,  Andrew  H 39 

Potter,  Emma,  m.  Henry  Swift 55 

Potter,  Hettie,  m.  John  B.  Swift 39 

Pratt, 19 

Pratt, ,  m.  EUzabeth  Swift 7 

Pratt,  Eliza  A.,  ra.  John  Swift 16 

Pratt,  Elizabeth 9,  10 

Pulcifer,  Hannah    H.,  m.  John    Hollis  .    ...  15 

Purpoon,  John,  m.  Abigail  Swift 51 

Putnam,  Col.,  m.  Sarah  Swift 20 

Putnam,  Sarah 22 

Rainsford,  Elizabeth,  m.  William  Greenough    .  5 

Read,  Anna,  m. Highinbottom  ....  5 

Read,  Elizabeth,  m.  Samuel  Durham 5 

Read,  Luther  F.,  m.  Lizzie  F.  Swift 16 

Read,  Obadiah,  m.   Anna  Swift 5 

Rhoades,  Hannah,  m.  Benjamin   .Swift  ....  54 

Rhoades,  Jacob 54 

Rhodes,  Ebenezer 52 

Rhodes,  Jacob 52 

Rice,  Martha,  m.  Ebenezer  Swift 31 

Richards,  Peter,  m.  Louisa  J.  Swift 32 

Richards,   Peter 33,  34 

Richards,  Peter,   m,  Sarah   D.  Swift 32 

Richards,    Sarah    D.   S t,2, 

Richardson,  Mary,  m.   Henry    Swift 53 

Roberdeau,  Ann,  m.  Jonathan  Swift 27 

Roberdeau,  Daniel 27 

Robinson,  John,  m.  Mary  White 5 

Roby,  Eben,  m.  Sarah  Swift 10 

Robye,   Ebenezer 13 

Robye,  Sarah 13 

Rockwell,  William,  m.  Susan  Capen   ....     58,  59 

Rogers,  Fanny,  m.  J.  A.  Veasie 28 

Rogers,  George  B.,  m. 2S 

Rogers,  John  S.,  m.  28 

Rogers,  Judith,  m.  E.  P.  Porter 28 

Rogers,  P.  B.,  m.  Elizabeth  Swift 28 

Scott,  Winfield 34 

Sewall,  .Samuel 10 

.Seward,  Edee,  m.  Elijah  Swift 52 

Shaw,   Abigail,  m.  William   Pitt  Swift     ....  16 

Shearer,  ."Vnn 32 

Sherman, 24 

Shore,  .Sarah,   m.   William   Greenough  ....  5 

Sloan,  Francis,  m.  Mary  Swift 52 

Sloan,  Mary,  m. Avery 52 

Smith,  Jeremiah 18 

Smith,  Joseph      26 

Smith,  Richard 6 

Sprague,  Edward 15 


INDEX  TO  THE  GENEALOGY. 


V. 


PAGE. 

Sprink,  Charles,  rn.  Annie  Swift i6 

Spurr,  Ann 3>  ^ 

Spurr,  Robert 6 

Stearns,  Marshall 55 

Stearns,  Anna  C,  m.  Wm.  J.  Swift 55 

Stearns,  William,  m.  Margaret  Swift 55 

St.  John,  Orestes  H.,  m.  Mary  Swift 40 

Stoddard,  Elijah,  m.  Philomela  Swift 20 

Stone,  Elizabeth 13 

Stone,  Rev,  James,  m.  Elizabeth   Swift  ....  10 

Stoughton,  Israel 3 

Stuart,  Charles 34 

Stuart,  Mary,  m.  WiUiam  H.  Swift 34 

Sumner,  Benjamin 18 

Sumner,  Deacon g 

Sumner,  Mary,  m.  Dean   M.  .Swift 41 

Sumner,  William 3, 6 

Swain,  Elizabeth 24 

Swain,  Shubart 24 

Swan,  Martha 38 

Swift,  Abigail 15 

Swift,  Abigail,  m. Apply 50 

Swift,  Abigail,  m. French 16 

Swift,  Abigail,  m.  Reuben  Ferry 23 

Swift,  Abigail,  m.  John  Purpoon 51 

Swift,  Alex.  J 32 

Swift,  Ann 18,  19,  20,  21,  22,  26 

Swift,  Ann,  m.  Samuel  Berry 23 

Swift,  Ann  E.,  m.  John  W.  Martin 42 

Swift,  Ann  Foster,  m.  Jonathan  T.  Patten  ...  27 

Swift,  Anna,  m.  Obadiah  Read 5 

Swift,  Anna,  m.  Solomon  Hersey 17 

Swift,  Anne,  m.  PhiUips  Payson 10 

Swift,  Annie,  m.  Charles  Sprink 16 

Swift,  Benjamin,  m.  Hannah  Rhoades    ...  54 

Swift,  Caroline,  m.  Abraham  Andrews    ....  54 

Swift,  Catharine,  m.  Dr.  Whitman 15 

Swift,  Catharine,  m.  John  F,  Trow 38 

Swift,  Charles  W.,  m.  Margaret  Howard    ...  45 

Swift,  Charlotte,  m.  Charles  ¥.  Little 40 

Swift,  Dean 11,28 

Swift,  Dean  M.,  m.  Mary  Sumner 41 

Swift,  Ebenezer 18,  19 

Swift,  Ebenezer,  m.  Judith  Clapp 23 

Swift,  Ebenezer,  Jr.,  m.  Sally  Greenwood  ...  31 

Swift,  Ebenezer,  m.  Martha  Rice 31 

Swift,  Edmund  L 43 

Swift,  Elijah,  m.  Nancy  Brown 53 

Swift,  Elijah,  m.  Edee  Seward 52 

Swift,  Eliphal 22 

Swift,  Eliphal,  m.  John  Baker 23 

Swift,  EHza  Hester,  m.  Thomas  M.  Woodruff    .  40 

Swift,  Eliza  R.,  m.  Abraham  Andrews    ....  45 


PAGE. 

Swift,  Elizabeth 3,  4,  8,  22 

Swift,  Elizabeth  m.  Samuel  Babcock 23 

Swift,  Elizabeth,  m.  James  Hutchinson  ....       52 

Swift,  Elizabeth,  m.  John  Newhall 20 

Swift,  Elizabeth,  m. Pratt 7 

Swift,  Elizabeth,  m.  P.  B.  Rogers 28 

Swift,  Elizabeth,  m.  Rev.  James  Stone  .    .       10 

Swift,  Elizabeth  C,  m.  Geo.  H.  Janeway    ...      42 

Swift,  Elizabeth  R 4,  41 

Swift,  Eunice,  m.  Josiah  Wadsworth 31 

Swift,  Fanny 29 

Swift,  Foster 22,  26,  34,  43 

Swift,  Foster,  m.  Deborah  Delano 23 

Swift,  Foster,  m.  Alida  C.  Fitzhugh 43 

Swift,  Frances,  m.  Edward  Holbrook 56 

Swift,  General 21,29 

Swift,  Geo.  B.,  m.  Mary  B.  Warren 46 

Swift,  Geo.  L.,  m.  Mary  L.  Watson 16 

Swift,  George  M 39 

Swift,  Hannah,  m. Thomas  M.Thompson  ...       54 

Swift,  Harriet,  m.  Henry  O.  Nichols 40 

Swift,  Henry,  m.  Sarah  Brown 54 

Swift,  Henry,  m.  Mary  Coffin 55 

Swift,  Henry,  m.  Elizabeth  Glover 55 

Swift,  Henry,  m.  Agnes  McKean 54 

Swift,  Henry,  m.  Emma  Potter 55 

Swift,  Henry,  m.  Mary  Richardson 53 

Swift,  Isabella  S.,  m.  Robert  J.  Woodruff ...      40 

Swift,  James  Thomas 34 

Swift,  James  Thomas,  m.  Margaret  Weston  .    .       32 

Swift,  James,  m.  Silence  Butt 51 

Swift,  James,  m.  Winifred  Davis 52,  53 

Swift,  James,  m.  Mary  .Mayer 51 

Swift,  James  Foster 34 

Swift,  James  F.,  m.  Mary  F.  Jephson 32 

Swift,  Jane,  m.  James  Young 51 

Swift,  Joane 58 

Swift,  Joan,  m.  John  Baker 4 

Swift,  John 9,  10,  18 

Swift,  Capt.  John 29,  30 

S%vift,  Rev.  John 8,11,12,13,14,15 

Swift,  Rev.  John,  m.  Abigial  .\dams 14 

Swift,  John,  m.  EUzabeth  Babcock 28 

Swift,  Dr.  John,  m.  Catharine  Davis 15 

Swift,  John,  m.  EHzabeth  Parker 41 

Swift,  John,  m.  Eliza  A.  Pratt 16 

Swift,  John,  m.  Sarah  Tileston 10,11 

Swift,  John  B.,  m.  Hettie  Potter 39 

Swift,  John  Hollis,  m.  Hannah  H.  Pulcifer    .    .       15 

Swift,  John  J.,  m.  Mary  Hitchborn 55 

Swift,  Jonathan 22 

Swift,  Jonathan,  m.  Almena  Jacobs 47 

Swift,  Jonathan,  m.  Ann  Roberdeau 27 


VI. 


INDEX  TO  THE  GENEALOGY. 


PAGE. 

Sivift,  Jonathan,  m.  Silence  White 23 

Swift,  Jonathan  W 34 

Swift,  Jonathan  W.,  m.  Isabella  Fitzhugh  ...  42 

Swift,  Joseph  A 16,32 

Sivift,  Gen!.  Joseph  G 33,  42, 43 

Swift,  Joseph  Gardner,  m.  Louisa  M.  Walker    31,  32 

Swift,  Judith,  m.  Henry  Crane 23 

Swift,  Lawrence  C,  m.  Mabel  B.  Griffith   ...  42 

Swift,  Lewis,  m.  Maria  A.  Engleman 49 

Swift,  Lizzie  F.,  m.  Luther  F.  Read 16 

Swift,  Lizzie  F.,  m.  William  F.  Hale 16 

Swift,  Louisa  J.,  m.  Peter  Richards 32 

Swift,  Lucretia,  m.  John  Lovering 20 

Swift,  Lucy  W.,  m.  Joshua  W.  Carr 16 

Swift,  Luther,  m.  Hannah  Brown 15 

Swift,  Lydia,  m.  William  Pierce 23 

Swift,  Margaret,  m.  William  Stearns 54 

Swift,  Maria  J 36 

Swift,  Martha,  m.  John  Farrar 17 

Swift,  Martha  E.,  m.  W.  B.  Dickernian  ....  40 

Swift,  Mary 13,14,22,25,26 

Swift,  Mary,  m.  John  White 5 

Swift,  Mary,  m.  Col.  Burt 28 

Swift,  Mary,  m.  Joseph  Bennett 23 

Swift,  Mary,  m.  George  Ironside 34 

Swift,  Mary,  m.  Orestes  H.  St.  John 40 

Swift,  Mary,  m.  Moses  C.  Chapman 41 

Swift,  Mary,  m.  Francis  Sloan 52 

Swift,  Mary,  m.  J.  H.  Lombard 56 

Swift,  Mary  B.,  m.  John  Farrar 54 

Swift,  Mary  C,  m.  Lewis  W.  Tappan 55 

Swift,  Mary  F 41 

Swift,  Mary  R.,  m.  George  \V.  Whistler     ...  24 

Swift,  Mary  S.,  m.  Henry  Allison 27 

Swift,  McRee 4,18,24,29,33,34 

Swift,  McRee,  m.  Abby  H.  Chew 42 

Swift,  Nathaniel 18,  19 

Swift,  Nathaniel,  m.  Rebecca  Tucker 23 

Swift,  Nathaniel,  m.  Mary  Baker 28 

Swift,  Nathaniel,  m.  Sarah  Abbott 37 

Swift,  Nathaniel,  m.  Martha  Jane  Kidder  .    .    45,  46 

Swift,  Obadiah 6,31 

Swift,  Obadiah,  m.  Abigail  Blake 50 

Swift,  Obadiah,  m.  Rest  Atherton 50 

Swift,  Patience,  m.  Ebenezer  Wadsworth  ...  17 

Swift,  Patience,  m.  Daniel  Newell 23 

Swift,  Peggy  R.,  m.  Thomas  Adan 53 

Swift,  Philomela 26 

Swift,  Philomela,  m.  Elijah  Stoddard 20 

Swift,  Priscilla,  m.  Henry  Ledbetter 51 

Swift,  Rebecca,  m.  James  Tucker 23 

Swift,  Robert 3 

Swift,  Ruth,  m.  William  Grcenough 5 


PAGB. 

Swift,  Samuel 4,7,9,10,18,20,21,22 

Swift,  Samuel,  m.  Ann  Holman 17 

Swift,  Samuel,  m.  Ann  Foster 20 

Swift,  Samuel,  m.  Eliphal  Tilly 20 

Swift,  Samuel,  m.  Abigail  Pierce 30 

Swift,  Samuel,  m.  Ehza  H.  Willkings     ....  39 

Swift,  Samuel,  m.  Polly  Cheney 41 

Smft,  Samuel,  m.  Emma  Newberry 47 

Swift,  Samuel,  m.  Mary  Phelps 47 

Swift,  Samuel,  m.  Lucy  Davies 49 

Swift,  Sarah 9,  28 

Swift,  Sarah,  m.  Eben  Roby 10 

Swift,  Sarah,  m.  John  Adams 17 

Swift,  Sarah,  m.  Col.  Putman 20 

Swift,  Sarah,  m.  Samuel  Henshaw 23 

Swift,  Sarah,  m.  James  Leeds 51 

Swift,  Sarah,  m.  Samuel  Makin 52 

Swift,  Sarah  D  ,  m.  Eli  Adams 24 

Swift,  Sarah  D.,  m.  Peter  Richards 32 

Swift,  Sarah  Frances,  m.  Rev.  Jeffries  Hall    .    .  37 

Swift,  Silence,  m.  Desire  Hawes 51 

Swift,  Silence,  m.  Paul  Ingerfield 52 

Swifr,  Susanna,  ni.  Hopestill  Clapp 5 

Swift,  Susannah,  m.  William  Bartlett 23 

Swift,  Susanna,  m.  Henry  Newell 51 

Swift,  Susanna,  m.  Joseph  Whiston 51 

Swift,  Susannah,  m.  Robert  Jones 52 

Swift,  Thomas i,  3,  6,  7,  8,  9,  10,  iS,  31,  57 

Swift,  Thoma'^,  m.  Sarah  Clapp 7 

Swift,  Thomas,  m.  Elizabeth  Vose 7 

Swift,  Thomas,  m.  Elizabeth  Crehore 17 

Swift,  Thomas,  m.  Elizabeth  Capen 58 

Swift,  Thomas    D. 42 

Swift,  William 13.26 

Swift,  William,  m.  Martha  E.  Phelps     ....  38 

Swift,  William,  m.  Ruth  F.  Wood 40 

Swift,  William,  m.  Maria  King 48 

Swift,  WiUiam,  m.  Fanny  M.  Umstead  ....  49 

.Swift,  William,  m.  Addie  W.  Jacobs 49 

Swift,  William  A.,  m.  .^nna  Young  Alwood  .    .  49 

Swift,  William  J.,  m.  Maria  A.  Jacobs     ....  39 

Swift,  William  J.,  m.  Anna  C.  Stearns    ....  35 

Swift,  WiUiam  H.,  m.  Mary  E.  Walcott  ....  16 

Swift,  William  H  ,  m.  Mary  Stuart 34 

Swift,  W.  H.,  m.  Hannah  W.  Howard  ....  34 

Swift,  WiUiam  P.,  m.  Abigail  Shaw 16 

Swift,  William  R.,  m.  Mary  I).   Harper  ....  27 

Tabor,  Patience 24 

Tappan,  John 55 

Tappan,  Lewis  W.,  m.  Mary  C.  Swift     ....  55 

Tappan,  Lewis  W.,  Jr 7i  3' 

Tappan,  Lewis  W.,  Jr.,  m.  Olivia  B.  Lothrop    .  55 

Tappan,  Rebecca  Waldo 49 


INDEX  TO  THE  GENEALOGY. 


PAGE. 

Thatcher,  Oxenbridge 1 8 

Thatcher,  Thomas  .    .    •    " lo 

Thompson,  Thomas  M.,  m.  Hannah  Swift  ...  54 

Tileston,  Thomas 3 

Tilestone,  James 10 

Tilestone,  Sarah,  m.  Rev.  John   Swift    ....  10 

Tilestone,  Timothy 3.  10 

Tilly,  Eliphal,  m.  Samuel  Swift 20 

Tilly,  Samuel 20,  22 

Tobey,  Pierre 24 

Trott,  Thomas 18 

Trow,  Catharine  S.,  m.  James  B.  Cutter  .    ...  38 

Trow,  John 38 

Trow,  John  F.,  m.  Catharine  Swift 38 

Trow,  J.  F.,  m.  Cora  Munn 38 

Trow,  Martha  E.,  m.  Hugo  Peiper 38 

Trow,  Sarah  F.,  m.  A.  Carter 38 

Tucker,  James,  m.  Rebecca  Swift 23 

Tucker,  Jeremiah 18,  23 

Tucker,  Rebecca,  m.  Nathaniel  Swift 23 

Tully 33 

Umstead,  Fanny  M.,  m.  William  Swift     ....  49 

Upsale,  Nicholas,  m.  Dorothy  Capen 58 

Van  Baal,  Helena 32 

Veasie,  J.  A.,  m.  Fanny  Rogers 28 

Vose,  Elizabeth,  m.  Thomas  Swift 7 

Wadsworth,  Ebenezer 18 

Wadsworth,  Ebenezer,  m.  Patience  Swift   ...  17 

Wadsworth,  John 7 

Wadsworth,  Josiah,  m.  Eunice  Swift 31 

Wadsworth,  Patience 19 

Waldo,  Henry  S.,  ra.  Catharine  E.  R.  Adan  .    .  53 

Walcott,  Mary  E.,  m.  William   Henry  Swift  .    .  16 

Walker,  pedigree 32 

Walker,  George 32 

Walker,  James 32 

Walker,  Robert 32 

Wareham,  Rev.  Mr 3 

Warkman,  Samuel,  m.  Martha  White 5 

Warren,  Mary         24 

Warren,  Mary  B.,  m.  Geo.  B.  Swift 46 

"Warren,  Nathaniel 24 


PAGE. 

Washington,  Gen 27,  28 

Watson,  Mary  L.,  m.  George  L.  Swift    ....  16 

Welch,  John,  m.  Elizabeth  White 5 

Weston,  Judge 32 

Weston,  Margaret,  m.  James  Thomas  Svrift   .    .  32 

Whistler,  Deborah 26 

VVhistler,  Deborah  D.,  ra.  Seymour  Hayden  .    .  25 

Whistler,  Geo 26 

Whistler,  George  W.,  m.  Mary  R.  Swift    ...  24 

Whistler,  George  W.,  m.  Ducatel  ....  25 

Whistler,  George  W.,  m.  Julia  Winans  ....  25 

Whistler,  Joseph 26 

Whiston,  Joseph,  m.  Susanna  Swift 5  ' 

Whistler,  \Vm 25 

White,  Edward,  m.  Martha  King 5 

White,  Edmond,   m.   Elizabeth 5 

White,  Edward  B.,  m.  DeUa  Adams 24 

White,  Elizabeth,  m.  John  Welch 5 

White,  James 5 

White,  John 23 

White,  John,  m.    Mary   Swift 5 

White,  Martha,  m.  Samuel    Warkman   ....  5 

White,  Mary,  m.  John  Robinson 5 

White,  Peter 7 

White,  Sarah,  m.  Edward  Martyn 5 

White,  Silence,  m.  Jonathan  Swift 23 

Whitman,  Dr.,  m.  Catharine  Swift 15 

Winkings,  John 39 

Willkings,  Eliza  H.,  m.  Samuel  Swift 39 

Winans,  Julia,  m.  George  W.  Whistler  ....  25 

Winans,  Ross   W 25 

Willard,  John 12 

Wirt,  William 22 

Wood,  Ruth  Frances,  m.    William    Swift  ...  40 

Wood,  Susannah,  m.  Hopestill  Foster     ....  20 

Woodward,  Abigail 51 

Woodward,  John 5' 

Woodruff,  Mary  J.,  m.   A.   B.  Carbonnel  ...  40 

Woodruff,  Robert  J.,  m.  Isabella  Swift  ....  40 

Woodruff,  Thomas  M.,  m.  Eliza  H.  Swift  ...  40 

Young,  James,  m.  Jane  Swift 51 


INDEX  TO  THE  MEMOIRS. 


PAGE. 

Abert.   12S,   176,  189,  233,  234,  238,  244,  248,  249, 

250,  264,  269,  273,  ?74,  275,  28c 
Adams,  17,  19,  20,  21,  22,  23,  24,  32,  50,  75,  83,  85, 
130,  140,  142,  151,  160,  161,  173,  174,  17S, 
182,  197,  199,  201,  211,  212,  216,  217,  220, 
224,  226,  232,  233,  234,  236,  244,  252,  261, 
262,  264,  265,  269,  270,  272,  275,  279,  2S4 

Addison 44 

Adrian 190 

Alden 12 

Alexander 34-63 

Allen 34,  195,  204,  224 

Allston 24 

AIsop 163 

Ames 159 

Amhurst,  Lord 32 

Anderson 181,  272,  286,  2S9 

Andre 27 

Andrews 270 

Angus 226,  257,  273,  275 

Anthony 12,  276 

Archer 1S2 

Armistead,  29,  34,  37,  53,  56,  98,  102,  104,  106,  108, 
109,  120,  121,  127,  141,  170,  171,  173, 
174,    180,  193 

Armitage j86,  191,  252,  263 

Armour 183 

Armstrong,  79, 108, 109, 113,  114,  115,  119,  120,121, 
122,  123,  124,  126,  127,  131,  133,  136,  222, 
262 

Arnault 230 

Arnold 27,  30,  31,  79 

Artiguenave 166 

Ashe 64 

Asmus 57 

Aspinwall 279 

Astor 262 

Atkinson 118 

Auchmuty 22 

Audubon 249 

Austin       77 


PAGE. 

Avery 158 

Ayrault 288 

Azalon 222 

Babcock 108,   154 

Bache 155,  191,  261 

Bachus 288 

Backus 114,  218 

Bainbridge,   107,  139,   148,  156,   158,  160,   162,  168, 
242,  243 

Bailey 158,  258 

Baldwin 243 

Ball 224,  225 

Bancroft 251 

Bankhead 232,  256 

Baptist 65 

Barbour 199 

Barclay 162,  208,210 

Bard 185,225,  230 

Barker 140 

Barnard 61,  62,  256,  283,  286 

Baron 27,  28,  31,  40,  43,  44 

Barron  ....   32,  34,  36,  37,  46,  53,  56,  66,  67,  70 

Barrow 273 

Barry 205,  223,  262 

Bartlett 275,  277,  287 

Bates 229 

Baum 35 

Bautatz 245 

Bayard 214,  219 

Baylis 16,  275 

Beach 76,  78,  193,  198 

Beale 76,  78 

Beardsley 221 

Beauregard 288 

Beck 260,  273 

Bee 57 

Beebe 43 

Beers 230 

Bell 92,  23S,  244,  285 

Bellasis 46 

Bennet 194,  277 


INDEX  TO  THE  MEMOIRS. 


PAGB. 

Bentalon 154 

Benjamin 260 

Bernard,  143,  144,  145,  146,  147,  149,  170,  174,  175, 

176,  178,  179,  180,  181,  18S,  192,  196,  204, 

210,  255,  269 

Bethune 283 

Beton 234 

Bibby 216 

Biddle     .  48,  180,  183,  223,  233,  234,  254,  267,  280 

Birdsell 230 

Birney 278 

Blair 45-213 

Blake 52,  159 

Blaney,  52,  53,  60,  66,  85,  88,  102,  147,  167,  16S, 

170,  172,  173 

Bloomfield Ill,  128,  158 

Blount 216 

Blunt 279,  281 

Bodisco 245 

Bogardus 237 

Bogoot 188 

Bogert 21,  206 

Bolinbroke 46 

BoUman 70,  196 

Bomford  40, 67, 82,  105,  108,  113,  I49,  153,  254,  263 

Bonaparte 63,  82,  156 

Bonneville 165 

Boone 46,  185 

Boot 41 

Booth 154 

Borland 256 

Boss      21 

Botetout 174 

Botts 60 

Bowditch 85,  105,  161,  165 

Boyd     . 117 

Braddock 49 

Bradford 38 

Bradley 55<  67 

Bradshaw 90 

Brayton 277 

Brent 288 

Brewerton 268 

Brooks  .    .  78,  126,  129,  130,  159^  160,  161,  166,  255 

Brown,  92,  94, 104,  105,  109,  113,  114,  117,  122,  131, 

172,  187,  19s,  198,  235,  253,  261,  263,  273 

Brownwell 183 

Bruff 42,  63 

Brynon 1:2 

Buchanan 243,  285 

Buck 273 

Bull 194 


PACK, 

Burbeck 42,  76,  79,  85,  86,  90,  98,  130 

Burgwin 58,65,86,111,113,135,172 

Burgoyne 47,  241 

Burke 181 

Burr 31,  36,  52,  60,  70,  96,  97 

Burt 80,  276 

Burtsell 212 

Bush 146 

Butler    ......  42,  43,  82,  155,  183,  225,  230,  236 

Cabot 78 

Cadwallader,  45,48, 154, 155, 180,  183,  201,  254,  267 

Cady 13,  16,  166,  252 

Cahoon : 158,  182 

Caldwell 88,  23S,  239 

Cales 265,  267 

Calhoun,  149,  175,  176.  180,  184,  186,  187,  1S9,  192, 
199,  202,  219,  227,  232 

Callender 52 

Camman 271 

Campbell 42,  67,  208,  210,  240,  242 

Canfield 233,  234 

Canon 237 

Canova 172 

Carew 279 

Carondelet 96 

Carroll 153,  159,  215,  250 

Carter 238 

Casey 199 

Cass 222,  269,  286 

Chase 45,  213,  244,  269,  282,  283,  286 

Champlin 22,  24 

Channing 160 

Chauncey 113,  171,  iSo,  191 

Chapman 204 

Charles  V 222 

Chatham 249 

Cheeves 105,  183 

Chesterman 192,  252 

Chew 187,209,211,243,246,252,255 

Chrystler 117 

Church 229,  266 

Churchill 241 

Clark 193,  19S,  266 

Clasby 277 

Clay     .    .    .   .140,189,195,201,207,209,243,269 

Clayton 261 

Cletherall 65,  210 

Clinton  ....    30,  67,  113,  131,  133,  156,  188,  197 

Clitherow 243 

Clive,  Lord 242 

Cobb,  13,  14,15,16,18,19,78,81,84,85,130,  160,275 


INDEX  TO  THE  MEMOIRS. 


m. 


PAGE. 

Cobbet 194,  195 

Cobham 65 

Cochrane 26,  91 

Cockburn 153 

Coffin 277 

Colden 1S3,  192 

Colebrook 240 

Coleman 151 

Coles 56,  70,  171,  219 

Collins 159.  171 

Conde 55 

Conrad 192 

Conway 50 

Cook 210,  21 1,  225,  226,  260 

Cooper Ill,  226,  2S2 

Cope 91 

Cornwallis 53,   154 

CoWngton 113,  117,  I  iS 

Cox 62,  173 

Cozzens 2S7 

Craig 53.  66,  179 

Crane 232 

Craven 49,  2S7 

Crawford 142,  143,  178,  186 

Creighton 193 

Crocker 130 

Croes 215 

Cromwell  52 

Cronkhite 274,  279,  2S5 

Cropsy    .110,  2S2 

Crosby      277 

Crowninshield 175 

Croysdale 261 

Crozet 151,  211 

Cruger 181 

Cuidozo 15 

Cullum      268,  271,  290,  291 

Cummings 136 

Cunningham 219 

Curtis 102 

Cushing 43,  129,  130 

Cushraan 16 

Custis 195 

Cutbush 108,  206,  208,  230,  247 

Cutler 246 

Dachkoff icc 

Dahlgren 219 

Dak 267 

Dallas 192 

Dante 29 

Davies 122,  194,  237,  246,  270 


PAGE. 

Davis, 51,  55,  91,  160,  206,  274,  276,  287 

Dearborn,  18,  25,  26,  28,  40,  43,  48,  49,  76,  78,  79, 

80,  84,    86,    87,   123,   131,   132,    159,    211, 

239,  240,  243,  257,  276 

Decatur loi,  107,  132,  133,  134 

Delafield,  192,  197,  215,  229,  230,  246,  248,  251,  252, 

253,  258,  266,  272,  275,  284 
Delano,  10,  11,  17,  38,  83,  95,  107,  142,  182,  258, 

262,  276,  277,  281 

Deniston no 

Denning 31,  60,  72 

Dent 102,  103 

Derby 262 

Devereu.\ 102 

De  Bernier 93^  100 

De  Kalb 7, 

De  Lancy 247,  249,  252,  259,  283 

De  Lemos 96 

De  Leng 247 

De  la  Marche cc 

De  Masson 40,  46,  53,  67 

De  Peyster 163 

De  Rosset,  53,  54,  59,  64,  66,  74,  173,  204,  246,  247, 

256,  257 

De  Russy 108,  1 14 

DeWoIf jjg 

DeZeng 224 

Dibden jg 

Dickinson 230,  246 

Dinwiddle 128,219 

Dixwell 8  J 

Doddridge loi,  173 

Doggett 16,  20,  72,  73,  130 

Donnel i^i 

Donop icr 

Douglass 115,266,275,285 

Drake 256 

Drayton 103,  136 

Drefortail 29 

Droasy 21,  24,  32 

Drummond 241 

^^y 52 

Dryden 84 

Duane 82 

DuBois,  53,  54,  66,  178,  179,  247,  251,  252,  256,  262, 
266,  273,  288 

Ducatel 262,  268 

Duche 24 

Duncan 206,  225,  227,  235,  236,  244,  260 

Dunlap 233 

Duvale 09 

Dwight 229,  280 


IV. 


INDEX  TO  THE  MEMOIRS. 


hAGE. 

Eagle 172 

Eakin 254 

Eaton 45.  192.  205 

Eccleston 205 

Eckford,   1S9,  195,  198,  199,  200,  201,  214,  215,  237, 
238,  246 

Eddy 113 

Edmonson 235 

Edwards 81,  173,  192,  233,  260,  261,  286 

Ellery 22,  159 

Ellet 258 

Ellicott 45 

Elliot 170,  174,  175,  180,279 

Ellison 72 

Empie 123,  130,  131,  138,  146,  219 

Enfield 32.  3^ 

England 223 

Erickson 61 

Ernst 217 

Erskine 82 

Eustis  .    .     76,  77,  79,  81,  84,  86,  106.  109,  124,  207 
Evans    .    .  61,  loi,  162,  168,  185,  187,  211,  217,  254 

Everett 59,61,284,285 

Ewing      99,  103,  104 

Fairbanks 235 

Fairley 133 

Falkland 239 

Fanning 65 

Farquhar 114,182,208,211,221,287 

Farrar 177 

Fay 198 

Fellow 223,  229,  236,  281 

Feltus 181,  194 

Fenwick 136,   181 

Fergus 5'.  55- ^3 

Ferguson      219 

Findley loS 

Fish 131,  135,  195 

Fisher 267 

Fitch 83 

Fitzhugh,  44,  192,  211,  212,  215,  218,  221,  231,  235. 
242,  257,  265,  266,  269,  288 

Fleming 29,  47,  93 

Folger 38.  277 

Foote 237,  278 

Forsyth 147 

Foster 61,81,  iii,  197 

Fowler 61 

Fox 164 

Frances 41 

Franklin 34.  37.  38 

Franks 258,  259 


PAGE. 

Eraser 242,  258,  259 

Freeman 42,  87,  96,  loi,  102,   160 

Fremont 278 

Frink 213,  219 

Fuller 275 

Fulton io5,  126,  132 

Gadsden,  100,  114,  132,  134,  138,  140,  141,  149,  255, 
260,  283 

Gage 68,  161 

Gailliard 105 

Gaines 71,  116,  194,  227 

Gales 215 

Gallagher 214 

Gallatin,  .    .  69,  71,  107,  127,  140,  143,  149,  156,  196 

Gallaudet 157 

Gamble 96 

Gansvoort 36,  71,  96 

Gard 150 

Gardner    ....  10,  13,  19,  38,  68,  69,  So,  249,  286 

Garnet 69,  71,  97,  181,  2S2 

Gaston 59,  171,   192 

Gates 28,  34,  47,  so,  C41 

Gautier log 

Gay 156 

Genet 14 

George  III 239 

Girard 183 

Germain 244,  245 

Gerry 83 

Getting 254 

Gibbon 26,  96,  99,  107 

Gibbs 22,66,72,112,113,183,184,  191 

Gibson 67,  192,  234 

Gillespie 20 

Gilman 106,  108,   113 

Gilmore loi 

Gist 235 

Glassell 136,  139 

Glover      229 

Gold 22 

Goldsborough loi,  177 

Godwin 41 

Goff 81 

Goodwin 35,  193 

Gookin 174 

Gore 78,  84,  160 

Gorham 164 

Gouverneur,  36, 175,  176,  193,  194,  199,  204,  206,  216, 
219,  237,  251,  265,  270 

Grafton 279 

Graham 147,  171,  231 

Grange 58 

Gratiot 205,  216,  221,  275 


INDEX  TO   THE  MEMOIRS. 


PAGE. 

Gray 159,  265,286 

Greeley      270 

Green 22,  29,  2S2 

Gregory      123 

Greig,  206,  211,224,226,  227,  231,234,  236,  259,  260 
269,  272,  281 

Gridley 42 

Griffin 5'.  52,  53.  55- 57.  S^,  59- 8S,  172 

Grime 264 

Griswold 193 

Grozet 151 

Glassel 139 

Glover 229 

Guest 269 

Guile 279 

Guilles 182 

Guion 63,  171 

Hale 275 

Haley 8i 

Halsey 102 

Hall  .        215,  224,  230,  260 

Hallam 81 

Haliburton 240 

Hamilton,  22,  36,  37,  43,  46,   52,   70,  97,   103,   107 

175,  185,192,222,275 
Hampton  .    .  114,   115,   116,  118,  119,  120,  122,  210 

Hancock 159 

Hanover 256 

Harbeck 251 

Hardy 131,  158,  232 

Harney 103 

Harper 100,  154,  182 

Harris 257,  279 

Harrison   ....   io6,  121,    122,  123,  238,  243,  244 

Hart 12,  276 

Hartshorn 76 

Harvey 234,  239 

Hassler,    67,  69,  71,  72,  86,  95,  loi,  105,  127,  128, 

140,  151,  184,  185,  189,  219,  226,  229,  254 

267,  272,  282 

Hatfield 273 

Havens 28 

Hawkins no,  135,  184 

Hawley 113 

Hawks 247,  256,  268,  279 

Hayne 192 

Hay  ward >2,  59 

Haywood 95 

Head 155,  228,  230 

Heileman 35,  130 

Helm 261 


Hemminway 206 

Henderson, 31,  207 

Henry 24,  243 

Herbert 44,  242 

Heth 49 

Hill 58,  64,  88,  172 

Hobart 123,  128,  185,  252 

Hodges 85,  166,  174 

Hoffman 206,  210,  246 

Hogarth 37,  57 

Holford 266,  267 

Holland 135,  138 

Holly 157 

Holmes 54,  221,  224 

Hooper 64,  93,  172 

Hopes 263 

Hopkins 184,  225,  241 

Horace 156 

Horn 133,  135 

Horry 103 

Hossack 41 

House 43 

Houston 219,  254,  269 

Hove 69 

Howard 27,  28,  192,  199,  207,  208,  275 

Howe 81,  95,  155,  280 

Howland 194 

Hoxie 237,  264 

Hoyt  .    .  216,  219,  220,  223,  224,  226,  231,  233,  273 

Huger 196 

i       Hull 107,   129,  160 

Humphrey 7°,  81,  220,  223,  225,  263 

Hunt 227,  248,  270 

Hunn 258 

Hunter 22,  25 

Huntington    .    .    .    158,  246,  254,  255,  275,  278,  279 

Hussy 277 

Hutton 27,  32,  36 

Hyatt 193,  261 

Ingalls 16,  72 

Ingersoll 42,  85,  155,  267 

Ireland 181,  187,  189,  191,  219,  258 

Irvine .    155 

Izard 35.40,  102,  no,  112,  283 

Irving 43,247,251,259 

Jackson,    20,  24,  34,  80,  97,  137,  141,  203,  205,  210, 
214,  237,  238,  240,  242,  244,  251,  279 

Jaggar 186,  187 

Jarvis 138,139,173,194,248 

Jasper 100 


INDEX  TO  THE  MEMOIRS. 


PAGE. 

Jay 15,  164,  200 

Jefferson,  15,  17,  23,  24,  25,  31,  32,   34,  41,  44,  45. 

48,  49,  50,  57,  60,  63,  69,  70,  73,  77,  81, 

148,  163,  164,  193,  237,  265 

Jeffrey 81 

Jennings 128,  220 

Jephson 207 

Jessup 1S7 

Jewett 240 

Jocelyn 80,    88 

Johnston    ...    42,  54,  133,  186,  223,  253,  258,  260 

Jordan 239 

Jones,  29,  64,  78,  91,  93,  96,  163,  188,  189,  206,    248 

Judd 272 

Judkins 231 

Judson 234 

Jumonville 12S,  220 

Kain 149 

Kater 19' 

Kearney 162,170,174,250 

Kellock <i6 

Kelly 189 

Kemble,    36.  135,  1 38,  150,  151,  177,  234,  254,  255, 

267,  275,  277,  279,  287,  289 

Kent 192 

Kent,  Duke  of 239 

Kernan 54 

Keys 231 

Kimball 42,    43 

Kimble 214 

King,  16,  140,  141.  '43.  '57.  '63. 192,  203,  204,  222, 

231,  270 

Kingsbury 42,  43 

Kingsley 29,  64 

Kirby 235 

Kirkland 78,  84,  161 

Kirkwood 221,261,280,282 

Kittredgc 76 

Knight 24,    26 

Knox 28,  43,    47 

Kortwright 163 

Kosciusko 29,  30,  35,  46,  71,  156 

Lacy 233 

La  Fayette 143,  195,  196 

Lake 239 

Lane 149 

Langdon 7(1,  78,  84,  86,  129,  162 

Lansing 238 

La  Place 85,  165 


PACK. 

Latrobe 149, 153 

Law 190,  212 

Lawrence 246,  270 

Leavenworth 37 

Le  Clerc 157 

Le  Conte 176,  187 

L'Enfent 45 

Le  Trevor 192 

Ledyard 158,  280 

Lee  .    .    ..50,  104,  130,  157,  196,  234,  256,  270,  287 

Leeds 93 

Lefferts 186.  237,  254 

Leiber 283 

Leonard I5i  17.  72, '83,  130,  165 

Leslie 255 

Levens 194 

Levy 34,  36,  37i  4°,  47.  79 

Lewis,  49,  102,  108,  111,115,116,122,  132,  195,272 

Lightfoot 55 

Lillington 53 

Lincoln 10,  69,  285,  287,  288,  289 

Lind 266 

Linton 207 

Little 171 

Uvingston 24,  34,  156,  223,  225,  263 

Lloyd 78 

Lockwood 34 

Logan 82,  155 

Lomax 225 

London 88,  Ib8,  172 

Long  .    .  128,  142,  155,  177,  181,  187,  191,  204,  207 

Lord   ." 48.52,88,172,283 

Loring 81 

Loss 184.   "85,  189 

Loud 235 

Louis  XVI 45 

Louis  Phillippe 269 

Lovel 5°.  58,  68 

Lovering 12,  129,  146,  168,  184 

Lowdais 25 

Lowe '46 

Lowndes 102,  142 

Lummis 206,  212 

Madison  .  48,  63,  70,  79,  82,  83.  98,  loi,  106,  107, 

108,  124,  125,  136,  142,  147,  148,  156,  164, 

237.  265 
Macomb,  29,  30,  34.  35. 39. 4" •  43.46,47,  53,  56,  66, 

92,  96,  97,  98,  104,  106,  113,  116,  117,  166, 

183,  185,  193,  238,  267 

Macy 258 

Magruder 186 


INDEX  TO  THE  MEMOIRS. 


PAGE, 

Mahan 256 

Malbone 24 

Malen 218 

Manners 68 

Mansfield,  32,  34,  36,  37,  41,  123,  142,  167.  246,  2S7 

Mapes 133,  134 

March,  86,  156,  181,  182,  185,  187,  189, 192,  194,  204, 
217.  234.  254,  255,  258,  259,  265 

Marcy 217,  250,251,258,259 

Marie    Antoinette «    .    .      45 

Markoe 261 

Marshall 50,  96,  97,  107,  275 

Martin 45 

Marvin 179 

Mason 67,  126,  142,  153,  162,  177,  238 

Massinger 84 

Mattoon 197 

Maurice 64,  208 

Maxey 192,  249 

Maxwell 135,  200 

May 38,    68 

Mayo 96,    80 

McBride 230 

McClelland 43 

McClullock 190 

McDonald 51,  64,  221 

McDonnell 24I 

McDonough 119 

McDuffie 192 

McGregor 269 

McHoon 212 

McHenry 20 

McLaren 232 

McLean 64,   127,    154,   22S,  273 

McNab 242 

McNeill,  63,  64,  68,  72,  100,  loi,  109,  135,  192,  193, 
204,  206,  211,  221,  224,  227,  229,  230,  237, 
238,  244,  245,  260,  265,  267,  271 

McPherson .      42 

McRea 24,  26,  32,    43 

McRee,  40,  51,  100,  102,  103,  104,  108,  iii,  121, 
127,  138,  139,  162,  166,  167,  16S,  170,  175, 
176,  179,  180,  iSi,  184,  188,  215.  222,  223 

McYlhenny 60 

Meek 51 

Melville 261 

Mercein 134,  139 

Mercer 124 

Middleton 103 

Michel 250 

Miflin 50,  185 

Miller,  55,  57,  58,  59,  81,  92,  94,  102,  109,  iii,  160, 
172,  222,  271 


PAGE. 

Millman loi 

Mills 279 

Mimeenitz 71 

Mitchell 16,    1S3,    187,  242,  266,  277 

MLx 177,  186,  189 

Monroe,  136,  148,  149,  153,  154,  155,  156,  157.  159, 
160,  161,  162,  163,  164,  174,  175,  179,  1S8, 
205,  2i6,  231,  237,  243,  254,  258,  265,  272 

Montalembert 67 

Montezuma 207 

Montgomery 54 

Moore  ....  13,  53,  58,  64,  88,  loi,  172,  191,  240 

Mordecai loi,  102 

Moreau 211 

Morton 83,  133,  134,  156,  166 

Morgan 220,  2S4 

Morley 171 

Morris    .    .    .    113,216,250,251,260,264,267,273 

Morse 151 

Mott 194 

Mulcaster Ii7 

MuUer 20,    21 

Murdock 42 

Murphy 256 

Murray 133,   154,  266,  267 

Napoleon 144 

Nelson 165,  175 

Newman 273 

Nicholas 206,  222,  245,  247,  249,  262 

Niex 102 

Noah 181,  187 

Norbon 174 

Norcomb 173 

North 30,34,190,211,219,221 

Nourse 116 

Oakey 186,  191,  194,  202,  252,  265 

O'Connor 230 

Ogden ••....    22,  156,  185,  199 

Ogilvie 84 

Oldfield 241,  243 

Oliver 66,  140,  159 

Onderdonk 194.  250 

O'Neal 101,  102 

Orme 92,  i77.  '78,  192 

Osborne  .  .  27,  28,  29,  41,  58,  81,  93,  138,  192,  210, 
213.  249,  273 

Osgood i6l 

O'SuUivan 219 

Otis 78,  127,  159 

Owen 54 


INDEX  TO  THE  MEMOIRS. 


PAGE. 

Padelford I9 

Paine 16,83,  165 

Palmer 158.  228 

Parker 100,  130 

Parr 268 

Parrot 287,  288 

Partridge,  97,  106,  108,  no,  in,  n3,  141,  142,  144, 

147,  157,  167,  168,  169,  170,  278 

Pattens 281 

Patterson 181,  267 

Payer 9* 

Pazzy 75 

Peal 281 

Peduson '55 

Pell 188 

Pemberton 279 

Penniman 86 

Pentr 270 

Perkins 160 

Perry 22,   139,  158,  162,  168 

Peters 234 

Peyton I94 

Phelps 192,  237,  252 

Phillips 25,  160 

Phillipse 150.  '5»i  264 

Pickens 103 

Pickering 79,97,124,161 

Pickett 181 

Pickings 192 

Picolomini 282 

Pierce 213 

Pierre 35 

Pierrepont 283 

Pierson I97i  '99 

Pillow 280 

Pinckney,  17,  23,70,  71,  100,  loi,  102,  103,  104,  105, 

107,  126,  148,  164,  292 

Pinnels 261^ 

Pintard 5°!  «28,  220 

Pitcairn 84 

Pitts 42,  88,  97 

Pizzaro 256 

Poinsett 232,  235,  254 

Polk loi,  250,  259 

Pool 12,  23 

Porter   ....   34,  76,  127,  129,  154,  196,  217,  242 

Post 192.  226 

PotU 44,  49,  52,  234 

Poulson 15 

Poussin '74 

Prentiss 2'9 

Presbury '61  '7 


PAGB. 

Prescott n6,  256 

Preston 207,  227 

Price 70 

Prime 186,  194,  199 

Prince 184 

Pringle 283 

Proctor 135,  138 

Proveaux 34 

Pulaski 71 

Quince 64,  173 

Quincy 78,  279,  280,  284,  289 

Radcliffe 213 

Randall 114,  260 

Randolph i5i  "5 

Rannie 37 

Rathbone 199,  237 

Read 168,  187, 

Record 214 

Redemker 155 

Reed 57.  275,  2S4 

Rees  .    .   206,  2n,  220,  226,  234,  247,  249,  250,  266 

267 

Reeves 17 

Reimsowitz 46 

Renwick    ....    135,  138,  181,  187,  190,  191,  192 

Revere 21 

Rhodewald 265 

Rice 19 

Richards,  247,  254,  255,  263,  270,  272,  277,  278,  279, 

284,  285 

Richmond '6,  223 

Ricketts 46 

Ridgely 226 

Riley • 61 

Rivardi 29,  33,  36,  75 

Robbins 25,  219 

Roberdeau,  44,  45,  69,  82,  128,  141,  170,  186,  192, 

204,  205,  213,  216,  279 

Roberts 67,  88,  89,  90,  94,  96,  99,  102 

Robinson 31.   128,220,239,283 

Rochambeau 21,  154 

Rochefontaine 21,  29,  33,  36,  37,  74,  75 

Rodney '54.  '82 

Rogers 182,  187,  190 

Romeyn '88 

Rose 257 

Rosins 44 

Ross 153.   '54.  '82,  194 

Rudd '68,  173 

Rudee 210 


INDEX  TO  THE  MEMOIRS. 


PAGE. 

Ruggles 260,  265 

Rush 267 

Rusk 254 

Russell 12,  31,  127,  202,  203,  215,  217 

Rust 5° 

Rutledge 103 

Ryder 203 

Sabine 191 

Sackett "6 

Sampson 88 

Sands,     113,  135,  I43i  'S^.  «94.  I97.  201,  212,  214, 
240,  265 

Sanger 283 

Saunders 43 

Savage 279 

Sawyer '75 

Scanlan 26 

Schuyler 36,    37 

Scott,  58,  116,  136,  156,  168,  191, 192, 193,  198,  202, 
216,  229,  231,  234,  237,  238,  239,  240,  241, 
243,  244,  248,  250,  251,  253,  254,  255,  258, 
259,  260,  262,  270,  272,  274,  276,  279,  280, 
281,  285,  287,  289 

Seabury 185 

Seaton 192,  215,  256,  273 

Sehly 244 

Selby 241 

Sentell 208,  210 

Shakspeare 84 

Shay 14 

Sharp 116 

Shaw 165,  280 

Sherwood 116 

Shepard 14 

Sherman 18 

Shields 255 

Shight 178 

Shingsley S3 

Shine I73 

Shipherd 228,  261 

Shippen 213 

Sider 14 

Sigourney 289 

Silliman ...    .22,271,283 

Simmons -25,  106 

Simonds 7' 

Sinclair 92 

Smelt 239 

Smoot 174,  175 

Snowden no,  184.  185,  197,  199 

Southard 192 


FAGB. 

Spatts 210 

Smith,  12,  47,  48,  51,  52,  54,  55,  56,  57,  58,  59,  61, 
82,  85,  91,  92,  roi,  106,  109,  115,  123, 
'54i  '55!  167,  168,  172,  174,  177,  184,  187, 
190,  193,  196,  202,  205,  215,  222,  223, 
228,  229,  230,  231,  232,  233,  235,  246, 
250,  253,  256,  261,  271,  273,  276,  282, 
283,   284,    286 

Spear 82 

Spencer 243,  244,  253,  256 

Sprague 84 

Spring 91 

Stagg 201 

Stanley 171,  224 

St.  Clair 33.    48 

Steel 19,  20,  21 

Stelle 30,  43 

Steritt 154 

Sterling 154,  163 

Stevens 133,  157 

Stevenson 241 

Stewart,  107,  127,  148,  154,  155,  156,  161,  199,  223, 
229,  240,  274 

Stockton 249 

Stoddard 19,  20,  23,  24,  2i8 

Stokes 212 

Stone 162,  206 

Storm 36 

Story 159,  266 

Strang 47 

Striker 154 

Strong 33.  47.  235 

St.  Simon 17S 

Styles 81 

Sullivan 77,  129,  130,  201,  205,  246 

SuUy 205,  256 

Summers 233 

Summer 159,   194,  201,  260,  261 

Sutherland 235 

Swain 38,  277 

Swann 58,  64,  172 

Swartwout,  70,  no,  113,  114,' 11 7,  133,  183,  222,  267 
Swift,  10,  17,  18,  36,  37,  38,  44,  48,  61,  63,  64,  66, 
71,  74,  76,  82,  85,  87,  90,  93,  96,  loi,  112, 
n3,  120,  121,  123, 127,  128,  129,  130,  131, 
132,  133,  136,  138,  140,  143,  146,  150,  151, 
156,  161 

Talleyrand 18,  23 

Tallmadge 245,  248 

Tallman 257 

Taney 42,  96,  192 


X. 


INDEX  TO  THE  MEMOIRS. 


PAGE, 

Tarleton 19° 

Tathem S^.  57 

Taylor,  48,  157, 186,  192,  252,  259,  260,  261,  262,  263 

Tazuell lOl 

Ten  Gate 155 

Telford 253 

Terry 180,  188,  242,  264 

Thayer,   67.    74     76,   78,83,87,88,108,111,121, 

13S,  139.  157<  167.  '76,  I77i  189.  194.  196, 
198,  202,  205,  229,  239,  240,  244,  269,  270, 

27'.  273.  276,  279 

Thomas 42,  96,  204,  285 

Tompkins,  113,  121,  122,  131, 133, 156,  180,  193,  194 

Thompson 232,  254,  260,  261 

Thorndike 159 

Thorp 214,  216,  229,  246 

Tilford 66 

Tillinghast 16,  130 

Tillotson 1 84,   262,  273 

Tisdale no 

Tivoli  de 25 

Todd 155 

Toomer 172 

Totten,  41,  74.  S3,  :oS,  114,  115,  145,  147,  162,  181, 

187,  1S9,  192,  209,  212,  215,  216,  238,  246, 

250,  251,  253,  256,  264,  269,  2S0 

Tounay 259 

Tonsard 20,21,23,30,32,46,75 

Townsend 22,  124 

Towson 234 

Travers 289 

Treadwell 171 

Trenchard 185 

Trevor 192 

Trott 279 

Troughton 128 

Trumbull 194,  275 

Tucker,  65,    112,    113,  156,  166,  181,  182,  1S6,  187, 

191,  194,  202,  204,  214,  216,  218,219,  222 
■237,  242,243,  246,  252,  254,  255,  258,  265! 

271,  272,  273,  274 

Truxton 23 

Tudor 78 

Turner 108 

Tyler 243,  245,  248 

Upshur 248 

Valentine 14 

Vance 92,  172,  1 73 

Vanbau 36 

Van  Buren 136,  227,  234,  235,  236 


PAGE. 

Van  Buskirk 195 

Van  Derventer    .    .    .    .211,  214,  215,  228,  242,  281 

Van  Doren 209 

Vaneaudier 98 

Van  Rensselaer 41,  194 

Van  Zant 252 

Verbryck 246 

Viomenil 175 

Voltaire 166 

Wadsworth,  34,  37,  39,47,  51,  52,  56,  76,  105,  108, 
162,  234 

Wainwright 192,  215,  252,  265 

Walbach   ....    76,  78,  84.  86,  113,  117,  127,  280 

Walker.  52,  53,  54,  56,  57,  59,  60,  62,  66,  74,  So,  84, 

S6,    87,  90,    107,    129,   167,    173,   177,  178, 

186,  187,  193,  196,  203,  204,  218,  219,  233, 

247,  248,  249,  256,  257,  267,  271,  2S0 

Wallace 218 

Warren 131,  279 

Waring 171 

Warrington 171 

Washington,  10,  n,  12,  14,  15,  16,  19,  22,  23,  26, 
29,30,36,42,45,48,49,  50,  69,  74,  81,  104, 
124,  128,  154,  155,  159,  160,  162,  163,  170, 
i7'i  172.  175.  176-  I95>  211,  219,  220,  250, 
275,  281 

Watson 113,269 

Watts 213,  258 

Way 190 

Wayne 24,  26,  33,  43,  107,  122 

Webb 36,  282 

Webster 13,  160,  195.  199,  257,  262,  266 

Weeden 162 

Weir 255,  256 

Welborn 103 

Welles 267 

Wesley 138 

West 258 

Western 36 

Weston 260,  289 

Whalley 81 

Whistler,  iSS,  196,  201,  202,  203,  204,  205,  206,  211, 
213,  218,  225,  229.  240,  244,  250,  255,  257, 
262,  263,  264,  267,  268,  270 

Whitehouse 22 

Whiting 37,  231,  247 

Whitingham 244 

Whitney 257 

Wickham 96,  206,  272 

Wilbur 38 

Wilder 206 


INDEX  TO  THE  MEMOIRS. 


PAGE. 

Willard 74.  83,  loS 

Wilkinson,  24,  42,  43,  55,  56,  83,  96,  97,  98,  106, 
107,  uo,  112,  114,  115,  116,  118,  119.  120, 
121,  122,  127,  136,  169,  182,  218,  291 

Willet Si,  82,  230 

William  IV 

Williams,  16,  19,  29,  31,  32,  33,  34,  35,  36,  37,  38,  39, 
40,  41,  46,  48,  51,  52,  56,  58,  63,  66,  67,  69, 
71,  74,  82,  83,  84,  92,  96,  97,  98,  101,  102, 
104,  106,  107,  109,  no,  126,  127,  138,  146, 
182,  252,  253,  258,  268,  271,  279,  282 
Williamson,    156,  185,  218,  227,  258,  259,  260,  261, 

263,  269,  272,  274 
Wilson,    27,    28,    29,   31,  34,  37,  39,  46,  53.  56.  255 

Wilton 259 

Winans    . 244,  245,  257 

Winchester 204,  205,  219,  220 


PAGB. 

Winder 192 

Wise 187 

Wiseman 273 

Wyatt 136,  244,  266 

Wolfe 241 

Wolstoncroft 41,  42,  46,  57 

Wood 67,  72,  106,  195,  255.  266,  273 

Woods 232,  247,  25S,  259.  263 

Woodford 116 

WoodhuU 195 

Woodruff 151 

Wool 240 

Wolcott 132,  143.  203,  204 

Worth 220,  235,  255,  263 

Worthington 129 

Wright 48,  64,  88,  172,  203,  280 

Wurmsur 63 


